Maximum Ride: City of Secrets
by Avian American Writers
Summary: A new flock. A new adventure: a city full of lies, secrets...and danger. Rating MAY go up. Spoilers for all three books.
1. Prologue

Words really can't describe flying. Its majestic, and yet simple at the same time. Grace, nimbleness, and agility mold into one in flight. Flight is…its not really even an 'it'. Kind of an ability…well, not exactly. Flying isn't anything in particular.

Flying just is.

My name is Duke, by the way. And as you may have guessed, I can fly. Yeah, I know, you're all insanely jealous.

Now, amid your torrential envy of me, I'm sure you're wondering how I can fly.

It's very simple. I have wings.

No seriously. I'm sure you're all rolling your eyes at me, and muttering under your breath "Uh-huh…and how do you fly with a straitjacket on?"

Actually, it's true. I'm not at all crazy. In fact, if you want to meet a bunch of mad idiots, go find the scientists who grafted avian DNA into our genetic makeup. While I love being able to fly…there are times when I wish I could grow up with your average, everyday sitcom-style life. A mom, a dad, a suburban home…things so many teenagers take for granted.

This is a tale of adventure, of love, of friendship and of courage. And no matter what you think, this story will open your eyes to the evils in the world. So whatever, you do, keep reading.

Lives depend on it.

* * *

" HOLY CRAP!! SO COLD, SO COLD!"

I nearly fell out of the sky laughing, my sandy-tan wings barely holding me aloft.

My brother Ace emerged from the cloud he'd ran into, coughing violently. He was splattered with water, and still managing to grin at me like a daredevil. The fact that his hair was naturally spiked didn't help his crazy appearance, either. It was brown like mine, but sometimes stuck up in ways I could never understand.

Ace was my best friend, my companion in every way. He and I looked faintly alike, with the same skin tone and hair color, but he was younger and shorter. Also much more hyper. Hence the cloud thing.

In fact, when we planned our flock's escape, we did it together. We had a communion cell-all four of us. Ace, Eve, Jovi, Locke and I. None of us could imagine life without the others. Even though we'd been tested and confined and experimented on for all of our lives, we found the time to become fast friends. We were all around the same age, give or take a few years.

Three years ago, we learned that our entire flock was slated for termination at the School, where we'd been engineered. We fled that very night and we've been wandering the world ever since.

As the oldest, it was my responsibility to look after the others. I'm fourteen, and technically I'm not old enough to drive, vote, or work in fast food.

And yet I have to take care of my mischievous younger brother, a teenage girl who thinks it's her duty to bug the heck out of me, a six-foot-something birdboy and a kid who abuses his powers of telekinesis on a regular basis.

Ah, America, the land of opportunity, right?

"Yo, Duke?" Ace called over the wind, riding a thermal and managing to soar beside me.

"Yeah?" I said, still wishing I had had a camera for the whole "cloud-bust" moment.

"Are we gonna land soon? It's freaking freezing up here!"

I shook my head. "It's just you, buddy. Colliding with a cloud doesn't exactly give you the warmest feeling."

"Shut it." He growled at me, but Ace couldn't stay mad at me for long. It was too boring, I guess.

"Please! Can we land now?" Jovi pleaded. He was eleven, but looked twelve, and apparently, was just as cold as the rest. After all, I think we were flying over Michigan. But I wanted to get over the state border soon, so we had to press on.

"Sorry guys, I think we better keep going." Jovi pouted silently, but gave up quickly.

I was satisfied. Finally, they were beginning to listen. Now if I could only…

WHACK! A well-placed acorn catapulted against my scalp.

"OUCH! Damn it, Jovi!" I shouted, and then berated myself for such language. But, Lord, that hurt…and the kid had perfect aim, considering he'd used his mind. Stupid telekinesis.

After hearing several annoying snorting laughter at my expense, the flock persuaded me to touch ground near a little forest. It wasn't quite cold enough for snow, but still chilly enough for us to zip up our jackets and shiver like mad.

Eve crossed her arms and glared at me. She was the only girl in our flock, and was sure to complain about it every hour of every day. Like it was out fault a bunch of freak show scientists chose more boys than girls.

Like I said, she glared at me. "We should've gone somewhere a little, oh, I don't know…WARMER!"

I raised my eyebrows. "Uh, you do know where we're headed, right, Eve? Chicago, Illinois?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, what's your point?"

I shook my head at her. "Are you a girl or not? Chicago. Land of malls. And stores."

I waited about half a nanosecond before looking at her. "Any questions?"

Eve unfurled her wings, and spread out her arms in a questioning gesture. "Why are we here? I have shopping to do!"

The others giggled, leaving Eve nonplussed.

I guess this would be a good time to mention what we look like, in case you see any flying teenagers in the sky, and you can recognize us.

I was taller than Ace, who we estimated was about a year or so younger than me. The whitecoats never told us we were related, but it was obvious after a while. I also had light brown hair and blue eyes, which I secretly very proud of. I am so any girl's dream.

Well, admittedly, dating is a little less common when you're constantly on the run…er, fly…

Jovi had only a code to identify him that the School-JVI. Thus, he came up with the name. Later on the entire flock became obsessed with Bon Jovi, which made him rather proud. I guess it's a cool, random coincidence. The kid was pretty cool, but his telekinesis was a little annoying sometimes.

Jovi wasn't the only one who'd discovered some strange side effects of the avian DNA. Sometimes, I get a feeling…a vibe, sort of, and I can sense when something bad is going to happen. Or I'll notice something no one else will, because I can kind of feel it. I call it my exrasense. It only happens once in a while, and it would be a heck of a lot cooler if I could control it.

Eve was a blonde, and because of this, very fun to tease. Enough said.

There's one more flock member I haven't mentioned too much yet. He's pretty funny, and sometimes quiet. Probably knows more about things then we do, but if he does, he doesn't talk about it. After all, he hasn't talked once in the six hours we'd been flying. His name is Locke, after a philosopher he read about somewhere. Go figure.

So that's him. Tall, dirty blonde hair, and as unassuming as a huge mutant can be. Seriously, he's like, six-foot-six or something.

"What's for dinner?" Jovi asked, sitting on a stump and using his powers to rub two sticks together for a fire, while Locke searched the nearby forest for firewood.

"Uh, not to depress you guys, but I think we better settle for some forest mouse special. Sorry." I said apologetically. I heard a chorus of groans from behind me.

"Wait!" Ace said, rummaging through his pack and coming up with a dozen tins of ravioli.

I stared at him. "You stole that, didn't you?" I said, trying to keep the accusatory note out of my voice.

He looked up at me. "Come on, we've got to eat, Duke!"

I relented-he had a point. I hated stealing-but without it, we'd have one pair of clothes each, no food, no basic supplies…it was a pretty long list.

Spearing a noodle with a stick, I started to roast it over the fire. The smell was delicious. I-

I stopped in mid-thought, dropping my ravioli to the ground. My extrasense was acting up in the same way my sense of direction did. Something was about to happen. Something big.

I whirled around and stopped, frozen in place.

"Duke? What is it? What's going on?" Locke followed my gaze, and sucked in a shaky breath of fear.

There were Erasers on the horizon.

End note: How did you like it? The only parts we're considering for editing is the extrasense thing-we don't really like it. Who knows, though. Please review

-AAW-


	2. A Proposal

Erasers on the horizon…

I quickly got over my initial shock and hauled Jovi to his feet, gesturing to Eve to get up as well. Ace joined me too.

"Erasers! Locke, cover our right flank! Ace, our left! Eve, keep an eye on Jovi!" I bellowed out my orders, curling my hands into fists and spreading my wings wide.

If the Erasers want a fight, we'll give it to them.

They drew closer. My fists clenched a notch tighter. My muscles went taut. I was pumped. I was ready. I would beat those jerks into a furry pulp for coming ANYWHERE near my flock. I would…

Hey…wait a minute.

I looked closer at the approaching Erasers and lowered my fists.

Locke was staring at them, and said softly, his voice alight with awe, "Duke. I don't think those are Erasers."

Ace nodded, "Ditto."

They were right, of course. The "Erasers" weren't Erasers at all.

They were kids, just like us. And I had a pretty good idea who they were.

FLASHBACK

_Two months ago, the flock had stopped at an Internet café for some food, caffeine, and to get back in touch with reality. Weeks on the run can put you out of the loop._

_Ace was messing around with a computer, and he stumbled upon something remarkable. "Hey, Duke. Check this out."_

_Clutching my latte, I peered at the screen. The Google search engine was up, and Ace had keyed in 'birdkids'._

_I choked on my coffee, which spurted down my shirt. Ignoring this, I exclaimed the first thing that came to me. "Are you out of your mind?!" Heads turned in our direction, and I swore silently. The last thing we needed was attention._

_I lowered my voice. "Ace, listen to me. If the School is looking for us, which they very well may be, the first place they'd check is the Internet. All teens use the Web, but I doubt they look up junk like 'birdkids'__. The whitecoats__ know we want to find out more about our origins-they'll be on guard and waiting.__"__Ace completely disregarded this-I doubt he even heard me. "But, Duke, look at this. There are more avian hybrids out there! On the run!"_

_Now it was my turn to completely disregard logic. My jaw dropped as I scanned the screen excitedly. My brother beckoned the rest of the flock over and we all huddled around the computer._

_The only website found was entitled Fang's Blog__. S__imple enough__, I guess. __I read onward, impatient for details._

_Apparently the dude-Fang-was what he called an "Avian-American" or a birdkid, and he was writing about everything we imagined. To our horror, we discovered that there was more than one School in the world-actually, there were tons. They were a__ll__ owned by some sort of corporation called Itex. Fang also spoke of his own flock, led by a girl named Maximum Ride. _

_The latest entry was short and hasty-heck, I could see like ten spelling errors. It told us that Fang and some of his flock were invading a School in Germany, and asked his loyal readers to help. In the next page, he listed fifteen different Schools and their locations._

_"Cool." Eve breathed, straining to get a closer look at Fang's words._

_I eagerly checked the date of the entry. It was today, posted ten minutes ago…_

_"Excuse me," a posh, upper-class accent__ sounded__ from behind me. __I whirled around, ready for an Eraser, but it was a cross-looking middle-aged man. The owner__ of the java shop__, as it turns out._

_"Excuse me," he said again."But you seem to be disrupting the flow of my store and disturbing my customers. I must ask you to leave."_

_Offended, Jovi glanced around. "Come on, no one looks sore. I think you just don't like-__"_

_I interrupted him before he got himself into trouble. "Drop it, buddy." Jovi looked like he might protest, but I silenced with a look. Now was not the time to get arrested for disturbing the piece. Plus, when Jovi got angry, he had a tendency to abuse his power of telekinesis, often just by accident._

_"Sorry, sir. Didn't mean to bother you." I ushered my flock out the door. Jovi was the last one out the __door__ and I noticed him stick his tongue out at the rich jerk. I suppressed a guffaw, deeming it unprofessional._

_Oh, what the heck. I copied Jovi's move.__ The dude had it coming._

_Once we were outside, I started up the command chain. "All right, we go up. __There are__ a few places I think we need to visit."_

_Locke__ looked back at me. "What do you mean?"_

_I gave a grin the devil himself would've been proud of. "You know that list of Schools in the USA?"_

_"Uh, yeah."_

_"Well, I checked it out. There's one seventy miles east from here. Come on guys, we've got a battle to __win and scientists to bea__t__ up__!"_

END FLASHBACK

And indeed, as the kids touched down about a hundred meters ahead of us, it was clear. They were just like us.

I scrutinized the mysterious group-there were three females, one of which was dark-skinned and the other two light. One of them looked very young.

Three males. Two of these looked almost the same-strange hairdo, bleached hair. The only differences seemed to lie in age and size-one of them was almost as tall as Locke [which was surprising and the other short.

I barely noticed the last member of their flock. Shrouded in an aura of ambiguity, he was dressed in all black, with a sort of emo look. Something in his stance told me he was Fang, the author of the blog.

There was silence, deep silence-no one moved for many moments. It was like our flocks were mutually sizing each other up, wondering who would move first.

All of the sudden, one of the light-skinned girls stepped forward, holding her hand up for me to shake. She was tall, blondish and very pretty-If I had a mirror, I would've checking my hair. I didn't trust her though. The way she walked, the way she carried herself…I could tell she would be ready for anything at a second's notice. She was the leader, for sure. She probably had no idea of just how alike we were.

We faced each other-our eyes locked. Hers, brown, betraying sincerity if nothing else, hiding all emotion she could. Mine, blue, never showing weakness, on guard.

After a brief hesitation, I shook her hand in greeting. When she spoke, her voice was clear and strong.

"Are you Patrick Farrell?" She asked

I inwardly winced at the mention of my real name-I'd learned it after some ransacking at the School the night I left. Its not that I disliked it-I just like Duke better.

I nodded and said coolly, "Yes. You're Maximum Ride, aren't you?"

If she was surprised that he knew who she was, she definitely didn't show it.

"Yeah. I'm Max." She proceeded to introduce her flock as "Iggy, the Gasman, Angel, Nudge and Fang."

I thought I was doing a pretty good job, coming off as a neutral, tough-guy leader. I still didn't know what Max was up to, though. What did she want?

Before I could introduce my own team, Jovi beat me to it. "Hi. I'm Jovi. Fang, did you guys really attack the Director of Itex? I read that on your blog a while back."

Crap. So much for neutral and tough. I mentally beat my head against a wall.

The flicker of a smile appeared on Fang's lips. "Yeah, we did. See, Max, didn't I tell you the blog would work out?" She ignored him.

That's it. I'd had enough of this game.

"A'ight, enough beating around the bush. What do you want with us?" I asked bluntly. I wanted to know what was going on here, and I wanted to know now.

Backing off slightly, Max held up her arms in a placating way.

"Chill, Patrick-"

"It's Duke," I cut in, a touch of acid in my tone. "And you still haven't answered my question. What do you want with us? I'm guessing you didn't come for chitchat."

Max was silent for a minute. Around me, I could almost see the tension visibly thickening. My flock gathered around me-hers did the same. A face-off, almost.

She spoke at last, eyes flashing with determination. Despite that, I got the feeling she didn't want to be here any more than I did.

"I heard you helped us out at the School in Iowa. Am I right?"

She seemed certain of herself-I saw no risk in telling her that. Unless it was like, a clone or something. Ridiculous, right?

"Yeah, we did."

She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. I held mine…

"Duke, we need your help. You aided us in the past when you guys were in Iowa, and I want to know if you'll do it again. Please. I don't know the details-all I know are some children are disappearing in a town called Aurenton, Massachusetts. We want you to investigate. You'd be doing this for the good of everyone."

I mulled this over. She had a point-we should do all we can to whatever poor kids are being hurt in the world It sounded dangerous-but danger was never my enemy. I glanced around at my flock-the majority of them seemed eager. I wasn't agreeing yet, though. Nothing is simple in my life. There was more to Max's mission.

I asked a normal question with a foreboding answer. "What's the catch?"

Max blinked. "No catch. Its just some recon we could use your help with."

I stared her down-I was no fool. "Max, this is America. Everything has a catch. Or At least some fine print. Tell me the truth and I might help you."

She caved, although I could tell her ego protested. "Uh…oh fine. We're not the ones who came up with the idea. A friend of ours told us to find you, saying you'd be perfect for the job. His name is Jeb Batchelder-he used to be a whitecoat."

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up at the sound of that awful word and it send shockwaves through my system. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Eve give a little gasp, while Jovi yelped slightly. Locke looked merely thoughtful-he seemed to be pondering the idea. And Ace? Predictably, our most reckless flock member was not as scared, all though I thought I saw him shiver.

I backed away from Max and her flock as if they were contaminated. "No deal." I said.

Crestfallen, she looked at us in a maddeningly normal way. "I forgot to mention something."

I was done with her little mind games. "I don't care."

She went on as if I'd said nothing at all. "Jeb's a millionaire. If you do spy for us, he'll use is money to buy you everything you always needed to lead a normal life. Fake identities, clothing, food…and a home where you can live in safety."

I stopped in my tracks, speechless at the idea. The others stood in awe beside me.

"In other words, if you help us out, you'll be just about…normal. As long as you don't show off your wings, that is." Max reiterated.

I looked around. The flock looked just as I felt, in an uncanny way-confusion spiced with a seed of hope.

I sighed. "Give us time to think about it. Meanwhile, you're more than welcome to share our camp." Trust me; I needed time to think about this one.

Iggy nodded; for the first time, I realized he was blind. Don't how I figured it out, though. "Got it. We understand."

The Gasman [I was afraid to learn why he was called that, piped up for the first time. No doubt he'd been holding them in for a while. "That's fine. I feel like some marshmallows!" He sprang away, running for the forest to get wood. Max shook her head and laughed, and I got the feeling I would soon learn why he was named the Gasman.

Fang followed the young boy, and Max busied herself trying to attack the hair that was coming out of Nudge's head, while Angel looked on. I smiled to myself-they were a family, the way we were. They laughed, they cried, they shared memories…

Ace leaned against the rock and whispered a question to me. The flock was all ears.

"What are we going to do?"

Yet another short, simple question, to which there was no easy answer.

End note: Please review. Oh, and we might get rid of the U in Aurenton.

-AAW-


	3. Meeting of the Minds

Midnight came to the camp, darkening the sky and gently sprinkling the land with starlight. All sound seemed to be muted, except for the gentle snores of worn-out teenagers.

I was leaning against a wide oak tree, my eyes wary despite the hour. In the time after Max and her flock showed up, I'd been wondering how they found us so easily. My guard was up.

I glanced at my battered wristwatch, tapping a button on it. The timepiece flashed dull blue light onto the screen, which read 12:05. I then looked into the camp, where Ace was sprawled out on a bed of leaves. He looked so deep in sleep and at peace-I couldn't wake him, even if it was his turn at watch.

Besides, I knew I couldn't get to sleep even if I tried. The news of our 'mission' was pressing into my head, and I didn't know what to do. If we accepted the mission, we'd be…normal. We could live our lives naturally, the way they should be-no more eating barely edible food, no more fear, no more danger…it was a nice image.

And the others would get so much. I could protect them in ways I'd never done before, and they'd be safe. We might start real education, college, a job…and why did it have to stop there? We could end up like everyone else- grow up, get married, go through life with confidence.

But was it worth the risk? This former scientist-Jeb whatever-could he be trusted? I grew up among dozens of men and women like him who cared for nothing but their experiments. I shuddered at the thought-what if this was a trap?

"You're up late."

I jumped like five feet into the air, surprised. It was Max, of course.

I recovered, trying to keep my cool. Despite this, I couldn't help telling her "Damn. Don't sneak up on me like that."

She shrugged. "Sorry, but I needed to talk to you about something."

I nodded. "Well, you're here. Talk." I pretended to be only slightly interested, but in reality I was keen on hearing what she had to say. Anything that would help me make up my mind on the whole 'mission' thing would be appreciated. To be honest, I was pretty sick of thinking about it.

"Jeb Batchelder has helped me and my flock out on a lot of occasions. But…" She said slowly, seeming to proofread every word she said. Apparently she didn't want to set me off.

"But what?" I asked, narrowing my eyes. Somehow, I had the feeling that she was coming clean. Whatever I didn't know about this Jeb, I would find out.

I was right.

"Jeb always seems like a well-meaning man, but he's tricked us so many times. When we scored that major blow against Itex a few months ago, he was at the center. Only…it was hard to tell whose side he was on-even now, it's questionable whether or not he was helping us." She stopped, apparently thinking hard about what she said.

"So, if you don't trust this man, why are you asking us to do what he says? Now I'm even more confused." I answered, meaning it.

Max looked at me, and for the first time, I think she was being totally straight with me. This was the real deal.

"Because," she said, with the effect of unloading a guilty thought. "I _want_ to trust him. I found out a little while ago that Jeb is my biological father."

I couldn't help it; I let out a small gasp. "How do you know that?" I asked of her, feeling a little pity for Max. After all, whitecoats were the source of her fears…and her own father had been one of them.

Max sighed. "Trust me, I know. Like you said, everything has a catch."

Honestly, I didn't know what to say to that. In my flock, I'd dealt with a lot of emotional situations. But this was new. Not knowing if you'll ever meet your parents is one thing. Not knowing if you can trust one of your parents is another entirely.

Plus, it didn't help that she was really hot. Ah well, from what I'd observed in the past few hours, she was all Fang's. Huh.

The night's silence continued for a few moments. Then I found my words.

"Look, I suppose it can't hurt for us to talk to Jeb. Who knows? If this works out, you know can trust him."

She smiled. "Thanks. Now go get some sleep."

I willingly obliged.

* * *

I broke the news to my flock the next morning, at dawn's first light. Or rather, when Ace could be forced awake. Which was like, noon.

"Guys, we're going to see that Batchelder man, okay?" I asked point-blank, not knowing how else to put it.

Their reaction was mixed. Eve looked taken aback, but recovered quickly. Ace didn't move, and just nodded stiffly. I got the feeling he wasn't thrilled.

Locke seemed to mulling the idea over, and I decided to ask him his opinion later.

Jovi, predictably, was excited. "Sweet! We're goin' undercover, we're spies, oh yeah." He did a little jig around the camp, and I suppressed a very un-leader-ish laugh.

"Um, not exactly, little buddy. We're only going to see him." I said.

Jovi did not pause in his dance routine. "Whatever. We're gonna be spies! We're gonna be spies!"

I made a mental note to have Jovi audition for Dancing with the Stars.

Geez, I was just kidding.

After a quick breakfast consisting of some hot dogs Iggy had brought along, I turned to Max. "So," I asked, "Where exactly are we going?"

"My mother's house in Arizona- we figured a neutral location would be best for the meeting. Jeb's waiting there for us." Without another word, she leaped into the air, snapping out her wings.

I was impressed. "Somebody doesn't waste time."

Iggy grinned. "That's not Max's style."

So I followed, traveling to find my enemy and listened to his ideas about how to save humanity.

Wow, here comes the doubt.

* * *

It took three days of heavy flight to make it to Arizona, and my nerves worsened with every passing hour. No one else seemed half as worried, however. In fact, my flock seemed happier than ever-and I knew very well why.

Companionship had always meant a lot to all of is. Without each other, life would be devoid of joy and familial affection. But the five of us had grown up together, and the only friends we had were one another. The arrival of Max and her family had changed all that. So, needless to say, those three days of flying were some of the most social ones I can remember.

Ace and Jovi had the same roguish personalities as Iggy and Gazzy, and became fast friends with the two. Now, there was a quartette to instill fear-the four of them plotted a rather evil prank to play on Eve. I turned a deaf ear-who says I can't be fun?

Eve, in turn, had finally found girls to talk to. After years of tormenting us because she hated being the only girl, she now talked style, fashion and whatever else possessed the feminine mind with Angel and Nudge. Rumor has it she was actually planning to braid Nudge's unbelievably convoluted hair.

Locke and I hung around with Fang and Max. I'd never really thought about it, but Locke was truly my second-in-command. Although I'll admit Ace would do a great job of it, I never wanted to put that much on his shoulders-trust me, being the leader is stressful work.

But as we laughed and smiled and swapped stories, I think we all knew that our contentedness would end soon. And today, we landed in Max's mom's hometown.

Things were about to get twisted. I was sure of it.

We stood at the entrance to the Martinez home. Taking a deep, calming breath, I whispered to my flock. "This is it. And it could very well be a trap-I want you all behind me. If something goes wrong, we bail and fly like bats out of hell. And if…" My words caught in my throat. "If I have to stay and fend some enemies off, I want you to listen to Locke. He's in charge if I'm not. His word is law. Do I make myself clear?"

They nodded solemnly.

"But, that won't happen, okay?" Locke reassured the others, throwing me a look.

I nodded. "Course not. Now let's go."

Max knocked on the door. Moments later, I heard a voice call, "Just a minute!"

While we waited, I gazed around at the house, looking for escape options and such. I wasn't rushing into the place ill-prepared. If this was going to be done, then it would be done right.

A Hispanic woman opened the door. I figured she had to Max's mom-they had the same eyes.

"Hello, Max! We've missed having you around." Dr. Martinez embraced her daughter warmly. I felt embarrassed, like this was some warm family moment.

"Uh, Mom. We've only been gone for four days." Max said, smiling at her mother. "Where's Ella?"

"Oh, she's at school, of course. Sometimes I wonder about those brains of yours…" Dr. Martinez answered jokingly, giving Angel and Gazzy a group hug. Somehow, she even roped Fang and Iggy into the circle. Especially Fang-I guess you've got to keep your girlfriend's mom happy.

Okay, now I really felt like I was intruding.

"Oh and these must be your new friends." Dr. Martinez said, grasping my hand in a firm grip. I liked her immediately-she seemed to have the mannerisms of someone who could roll serious, funny and kind into one.

I did my best attempt at politeness, which I think went over well considering the situation. "Nice to meet you. They call me Duke." I wondered if she knew precisely who I was-Max had said she had been remotely involved with genetic engineering process that created her daughter.

Well, if she knew anything to the effect, she didn't let on. She just nodded, said "Nice name." and moved on to my brother.

It was less than a split second later when someone stepped out from behind Dr. Martinez-I flinched instinctively. It wasn't just that my raptor vision hadn't picked him up. He just seemed to blend in with his surroundings. Everything about him belied normality with a touch of secrecy. He was tall and had thoroughly average look-his hair, his weight, his expression of kindness were all the same. But underneath he was also a fighter-if ordering bird kids around counted, I guess. Although the man was a top-notch warrior for our cause, I didn't trust him for one second.

I knew who this man was. Jeb Batchelder.

I looked up at him with defiant eyes and to my great surprise, he didn't back down.

He'd passed test number one.

"So," he said quietly. "You're P-Duke. My name is Jeb Batchelder."

I said nothing and the atmosphere around us seemed to freeze. Locke and Ace came to my sides. I thought I saw Jeb's lip twitch upward for just a moment, but I must have imagined it.

All around us, people stopped conversation and there was silence just as chilly as my gaze.

It was Dr. Martinez who broke the hush. She looked up, steel showing in her innocent features. She asked the obvious question, "Are you all just going to glare at him or are you going to listen to what he has to say? It concerns all of you more than you know."

So she _did_ know something…

And all at once, reality came to the brick house in Arizona and we haphazardly filed inside, one by one, after Jeb. We made our way to the Martinez's living room and the two flocks managed to jam ourselves onto Dr. Martinez's two couches. Jeb settled onto an armchair. Dr. Martinez held up a finger, signaling us to wait and rushed into the adjoining kitchen. Once more, silence ensued, and I was so knotted up you could use me as a shoelace.

Thank God, Dr. Martinez came back quickly. I don't know why, but she seemed to have the whole 'you can trust me' thing going on.

She thrust three trays onto her coffee table. "I thought you all could use some decent food after all those days of travel. It's not good for the body to survive on roasted rat or Twinkies for days on end." She pointed at the trays. "There are biscuits, fruit, chicken empanaditas and…"

Dr. Martinez didn't get a chance to finish-Max had already snatched up the food, inhaling deeply. "Chocolate-chip cookies…ah, I've missed you, sugar addiction!"

We all laughed, and it was like a cure-all for the situation-it seemed to flood the room with warmth, and I felt like I could do anything. I took a bite of cookie, swallowed and leaned back. Crossing my arms, I looked directly at Batchelder. "So what do you want?"

He nodded. "To business it is, then. One good quality in a man is how he conducts his business. I remember-"

"Cut to the chase or we're leaving. I didn't come for small talk." I said, hating myself for sounding so jerky and yet loving how rebellious it was.

Jeb folded his hands in his lap. "Fine. I'll get right to the point. You helped us out in that School in Iowa. Can you help us out now?"

"Let's get two things perfectly clear. My flock and I attacked the School in Iowa to help Max and the others. Not you. And second, I'm going to need way more detail before we even _consider_ helping you out."

Jeb nodded. "I understand that. And luckily, detail is one thing I have a lot of. Now, listen carefully-all of you. Even you, Valencia." He said, and I realized he was talking to Dr. Martinez.

"Now," he began. "I found out about you five just a few weeks ago in a news file. After some nosing around in some old School files, I found your names and your last known locations. I know nothing else about you, but I thought you would be able to help me. And it all ties into one place-Massachusetts." He paused.

"Why Massachusetts, of all places?" Ace asked, looking inquisitively at Jeb.

"Excellent question, my boy." Jeb's eyes seemed to linger on Ace for a moment, and then he continued.

"There used to be a School in Worcester, Massachusetts-a pretty big one at that. It was shut down years ago when the authorities came to call. Of course, they were local police-they had no idea what the whitecoats were really up to. They thought they were going after some insurance fraudsters-I'd tipped them off. Some leaders were caught, and that was enough to get the place demolished before further investigation."

"Interesting. But what does that have to with this town-Barton?" Eve asked, and for the first time I noticed she hadn't been too talkative for the past few hours. She was probably just as worried as me-she really looked after Jovi like a mother and loved all of us.

"That's Aurenton. With an A-U." Jeb corrected. "But you have a good point. You see, there are a lot of odd things going on in Aurenton. Two kids disappeared, and their parents said they'd been acting very strange beforehand. They wouldn't stop talking about what it would be like to be an animal."

I was beginning to see where he was going with this.

"So, I want you to go undercover. You'll stay at the Aurenton Preparatory Academy, which is a nearby boarding school, and look around for clues. Every three days one of us-me, Max, Iggy, Fang or Valencia-will come into town, and you can tell us what you've learned. If all goes well, tons of innocent lives may be spared."

"And if all doesn't go well?" I said, cursing the shake in my voice.

Jeb said nothing.

I answered my own sentence. "If all doesn't go according to plan, we might disappear as well. And there's a large chance we might end up at a School…or worse."

"I'm not going to lie to you; it might be dangerous. But you've never seemed to fear that before." Jeb said.

Locke spoke of what we were all thinking. "We're not afraid of the danger. We're afraid of losing each other."

"It's not worth it. I'm sorry." I said, and to my surprise, meant it.

"I understand," Jeb said. "But there's something I haven't mentioned."

I breathed in, apprehensiveness filling me.

"The School I told you about, in Worcester. It's where you were engineered. Not only would you live a normal life after this mission, you might get to live with your parents, provided you snoop around a little."

Total silence.

I looked at my flock. We'd been through everything together, and life had been a long hard journey. We're inches away from the prize before us, our reward for everything we ever had to go through. We wouldn't stop now.

I shifted my view back to Jeb. I knew I was going to regret this, but…

"Deal." I said and shook his hand. Behind me, both flocks cheered. Dr. Martinez, who had stayed so quiet through our debate, smiled like she knew I was doing the right thing.

I hoped so.

"I'm home, Mom." A female voice called from the garage.

Max cornered me as the others headed into the kitchen to greet Ella Martinez.

"Look," she hissed. "I know you don't trust Jeb. But I'm here for you guys. If you don't trust him, trust me."

I nodded, overwhelmed by her support.

"Well said." A new voice said. I looked around. A small black terrier was the only other thing still in the living room.

"Now, come on, Max. I haven't seen you guys in forever. Let's get some chow." The dog led Max into the kitchen.

I followed, opened my mouth to ask, and then shut it abruptly.

I didn't want to know.

* * *

Dr, Martinez had opened her home to all of us for the night. In the early morn of tomorrow, my flock and I would depart on a plane to Massachusetts.

The arrangements were very simple-my flock took their guest room, Max's their spare room and Jeb settled for the couch. It was the first night I spent in a house I'd actually been invited into. Admittedly, we'd broken into some cabins or other unoccupied spaces when it got cold, but this was something else. Eve claimed the bottom bunk before any of us could protest, while Ace beat Jovi at rock-paper-scissors for the top. I suspect he cheated. The rest of us grabbed sleeping bags from a camp store and planned a cozy, comfortable night.

I couldn't sleep, of course. There were too many things to think about, so many events yet to come as this life went on.

"Guys, are you still awake? I've gotta talk to you."

"I'm awake, Duke." Locke sat up, alert as ever.

I heard a slight thump as Ace leaped down from his bunk. "Yeah, clearly I'm up too.

"I am, and it sucks. I feel like I slurped down ten cappuccinos-I'm so wired." Eve slid off her bed.

Jovi was the last one to rise from his sleeping bag and he used his powers to flick the light switch so that dim light illuminated the entire room.

We joined in the middle of the room, a family united. I sat down on the carpet and beckoned the others around me in a semicircle.

"Does anyone have any complaints-I mean, does anyone have a reason we shouldn't do this mission?"

Ace's eyes widened in mock-shock and said in a ridiculously stage-whisper-like tone. "Ohmigod, is the Incredible Dictator Duke actually asking our opinion on something?" Laughter erupted in the small space.

"Ace," I said, an edge creeping into my tone, but I grinned anyway. No one protested the mission, so I'd probably made the right choice. I'll keep talking.

"Tomorrow our lives might change forever-but I want one thing to be clear. Nothing changes, nothing at all. Whatever happens, we'll stick together like the flock we are. Doubt will destroy us, but hope will unite us. Whatever you do, listen to me at all costs-the stakes are too high, but not worth the loss of one of our own."

I bit my lip before continuing. "This mission might take one hell of a toll on us-it'll test our strength, our courage and our emotions to the max, but we will fight. Agreed?"

They nodded, and for once no jokes were cracked, no puns intended. This was a serious matter. And we all knew it. Things were changing in our lives and I wasn't yet sure if it was for the better or worse. I'd just have to grit my teeth and watch as the show went on.

"Now get some sleep. We'll need it-we'll be up early tomorrow. And guys?" I added as they started back towards their beds.

"Remember that we're more powerful together than alone."

Closing note: Okay, the fact that these notes refer to AAW as 'we' confused people, so let's set you straight. This is was originally a team fic, and it might still be-but I currently am the only one writing. All my friends who we're going to help me are trying to find time to pitch in, but for now, I am the sole writer here. You can call me Duke, after the character I designed. So-like it, hate it, whatever, you need to review it. I mean, if you flame it I'll probably yell at the PC screen, but not you. R&R

-AAW-


	4. Welcome to Aurenton Prep

White leather seats, pay-per-view movies, awesome chocolate desserts…I was in love with the first-class plane accommodations. Why couldn't my life be this comfortable every freaking day?

It was about eight in the morning and my flock was headed on a direct flight to FDR Memorial Airport in Massachusetts. Although still slightly tense about the tasks that lay ahead, I'd managed to relax myself a little and enjoy the ride while I could. Like I said, it's not every day that I can kick back and have flight attendants do everything for me.

Speaking of which…I signaled an attendant, who'd introduced herself as Demi. She came over to my seat, plastering a perfectly white smile onto her features. I guessed she must have practiced the movement for hours to make it so annoyingly perky.

"Yes, Mr. Farrell? Did you want something?" she asked.

I nodded, leaning back in my chair. "Yeah, I could use another hot-fudge sundae, extra whipped cream, please."

I'm sure she was wondering what the heck was wrong with me. I mean, after all, I'd already had two chicken sandwiches, a bowl of pasta and two hot fudge sundaes. But a side effect of our genetic differences was an enhanced appetite-and I mean a seriously enhanced appetite.

But if Demi thought it was weird, she kept her opinions to herself. All she said was a bright "Right away, sir" and she was off. I marveled at the ease of how she ignored whatever jerky comments sprang to mind and just did as I asked.

The flock could learn a thing or two from her.

The flock in question was spread out over the first-class section so as not to arouse suspicion. I took a quick perimeter scan, just to check that nothing was wrong. You'd be amazed at how many scenarios could turn to disaster when you have wings. It's actually really weird.

Everyone seemed fine. Eve and Jovi were in the back-she was embroiled in a battle with her makeup and he was beating alien scum on a Nintendo DS.

Now would be the moment where you look at me strangely-again-, and say the following words:

'Uh, you guys are homeless bird kids on the run from mad scientists. You have no money. Where did Jovi get an expensive game product?'

The answer is quite simple, actually. Jeb decided that to blend in with the Richie Rich-type kids at a private boarding school, we would need some material possessions. A lot of material possessions.

So, as if by magic, all five of us were proud owners of Alltel cell phones. Jovi got his DS. Locke, Ace and I received iPod Video players, and Eve got a ton of makeup. I'd say it was a stereotype, but it was Eve who begged for the makeup. That shouldn't surprise you by now.

Okay, Eve and Jovi were fine. Moving on to Locke…yeah, he was still asleep in the seat behind me. Dr. Martinez, Max, and Jeb were further to the front, seated as a family. Fang had come as well and looked very uncomfortable near Jeb. Guess he didn't trust the scientist at all.

That would make two of us.

At the last minute, Iggy had volunteered to stay in Arizona with Gazzy, Nudge, Angel and Total.

The last and easiest to check on was Ace. He was in the seat next to me and seemed fine except…well; let me give you a description.

His iPod was on, but he didn't seem to be paying attention to _Pirates of the __Caribbean_. Instead, he was staring off into space, a puzzled, thoughtful set to his blue eyes.

Huh. I followed his line of sight and groaned inwardly. Take a wild guess at who he was gazing at.

You guessed it. Maximum Ride.

I tapped Ace's shoulder and he pulled the headphones out of his ears.

"What's up?" he asked, and I shrugged.

"You tell me, man. Why are you staring at Max?"

He said nothing.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled softly. "If you have a crush on Max, get in line. I guess you've got as much of a chance of Fang."

Ace shook his head vehemently. "I know what you're thinking, but I'm not interested in her that way. It's just that…I feel like I know her from somewhere. But that's so impossible…right?"

Now this was something new. I sat up a little straighter, paying a little more attention than before.

My brother kept talking. "I mean, is there any way we've met them before? There's got to be a way. She's familiar from somewhere." Glimmers of determination lit up his face.

I pondered this for a minute or so. When I answered him, I chose my words carefully. "I'm not saying it's impossible that we've met her before…but it is unlikely, you've got to admit."

At that moment, Demi arrived with my sundae, and we were silent-the last thing we needed was a rumor about mutants aboard the airplane.

I dug into my sundae, savoring the hot, creamy goodness. Of course, Ace had to interrupt my paradise.

"So what about you?" he asked, tucking his iPod into the pocket of his jeans.

"What do you mean?" I said through delicious bites of fudge.

"Well, you spend a lot of time with Max. Are you…?" his comment hung in the air.

I shook my head. "I know what you're thinking, but no. She's hot, I won't deny it, but I could never be romantically interested in her. We're both too independent for each other. We could never be more than friends-there'd be too much power in one relationship. It would be...like the Queen of England and our President getting together. You know?"

Ace looked solemn for a moment before speaking again. "Wow. Who knew you were that deep."

I rolled my eyes. "Gee, thanks. And here I thought I had the whole 'Fearless Leader' thing down." With that legendary parting comment, I happily returned to my sundae.

* * *

About two hours of flight, airport security and car rental, we were all tightly packed into a four-wheel drive van. There's no need to go into any detail-let's just say that the airport stuff was dull and practically unrelated to our tale.

When I say 'we were all', I mean my flock, Jeb and I. Dr. Martinez and the others had rented a midsize sedan and headed for a nearby hotel.

My heartbeat had sped up like a nitrous racer ever since we landed. Aurenton was rather sleepy-looking city that probably didn't attract much attention, but to me, it was nerve-racking. I kept expecting a swarm of Erasers to materialize and beat the crap out of us.

Or at least, _try_ to beat the crap out of us.

I preoccupied my nervous mind with details, and kept track of my flock. We'd had to memorize a lot of information about our false identities and it was hard to take it all in. Mine was simple, though-it wasn't false. I was going by my real name, Patrick Farrell.

I'll admit, I was a bit surprised that Jeb told me to use my own name. After all, if he found it so easily, so could anyone else, right? We could be discovered right away. I brought this up again now.

Jeb shook his head at me from the driver's seat. "I told you, Duke; only three other people in the world had access to such top-secret files. One of them, the Director of Itex, is imprisoned in Europe. The same goes for Anne Walker, my boss. The last one I know to be dead." Satisfied that he'd cleared it up for me once more, he directed his attention toward the road.

Whatever. I turned to my flock members. Of us all, Jeb had only been able to find the files on Eve, Locke and I.

I decided to quiz them. "Eve, quick, what's your real name?"

She cottoned on immediately and recited as if she'd learned by rote. "Brianna Zen Murphy. I'm from Nebraska."

I turned to Locke. "Jonathan McCully, Maryland."

I nodded approvingly. "Jovi? False name, stat." I asked.

"Uh, uh…oh! Gregory Parker, of Iowa." He said.

Ace was last. I knew he was disappointed that he didn't know his true identity, even though he had told me nothing of the sort. Of all names, I hoped to find his while poking around in Massachusetts. "I'm going to be Todd Farrell, your younger brother, from Boston."

They said all of that in five seconds flat. I was so proud of them.

Jeb spoke up from the front, his eyes still on the road. "Remember, you all know each other from the US Prime Education Group, so you all got late admittance to this school. Got it?"

I would've responded, but my breath had caught in my throat. The van had stopped, idling, in front of a fancy black gate. A stone sign was embossed with the following words: Aurenton Preparatory Academy.

We were here. Whatever we discovered behind the gates of this school might change our lives forever. Secrets of the past might fall into sync as we searched, and we might never be the same, be the news good or terrible. Who knew what would happen?

The flock looked at me, and took a deep, controlling breath. I knew what I had to do.

"Let's do this thing." I said, a lot more heavily than I'd intended.

Jeb parked the van in a guest spot and led us toward a building that reminded me slightly of a palace, only the finery was a little less extravagant. Sort of like the estate of a senator, or an interior minister, but not a president.

I was desperate to spread my wings a little-I'd been tucking them in as close to my back as possible due to nervousness. I wondered if we'd ever get the chance to fly while in Aurenton.

A woman had left the building's entrance and started toward us. Jeb just had time to whisper, "Let me do the talking" before she arrived.

I'll admit, I almost recoiled when I saw her. A platinum blonde of perhaps fifty-five, her skin was stretched taut over her face, a clear sign of one too many Botox injections. And as if that wasn't enough, she had a smile that seemed permanently affixed to her features. Kind of like Demi, but much less realistic. Much less humanoid, actually…

She held out her hand for Jeb to shake. We stayed the background, doing our best to play the roles of wealthy, shy youths.

"Hello! It's great to meet you, Mister Turner! I'm Doctor Moira Wilkes, the assistant principal here at Aurenton Prep!"

When Wilkes spoke, her girly voice dripped sickening over-sweetness-it reminded me inadvertently of a really disgusting air freshener.

Jeb shook her hand, probably feeling revolted. I couldn't tell, though.

"Dr. Wilkes, I'm honored to meet you. As you already know, my name is Robert Turner. I'm the representative for the US Prime Education Group, a new program that honors students everywhere. As I told you over the phone, these children were unable to attend a private school in the Midwest-apparently there were some personal prejudices involved. We have relocated them here. They are all excellent students with A averages, and I hope they will fit in well at your magnificent school."

Wilkes's rather disturbing smile grew marginally wider, if that was possible with her practically starched skin. "Oh, they'll do fine at our school, Mr. Turner! Dr. Lyman and I welcome any students with a potential to shine!" She eyed us rather hungrily, like an athlete might eye a trophy.

Do you pick up on the fact that I don't like her?

Jeb smiled too, and I felt slightly relieved that his smile was not so twisted. It made him easier to trust.

"Well, I think we have everything sorted out. I'll be in town a few more days, and may drop you a line, Dr. Wilkes-I'd like to see how everything works out. I must depart now, regrettably. Goodbye, children." And like that Jeb was walking off.

I watched him go, and while Wilkes was preoccupied looking through the sheaf of papers Jeb had handed her, I could swear he mouthed "Good luck" to me as left.

Luck. I would need a lot of that.

Wilkes looked up at us again. "Well, darlings, I think that since it's a Sunday, you should spend some time getting to know the campus before you begin class tomorrow! Tell you what… Follow me!"

She led us into the school, and we got to see what it really looked like. The polished marble floors seemed to shine in every direction, and the ceilings were high and rectangular. Very few people were wandering the halls, and none of them seemed curious about us. There was a sense of foreboding that lingered in the hallway, like nothing was as it seemed.

Locke glanced at me worriedly, and I guessed that the feeling of suspense was not my extrasense acting up. It was everywhere.

Wilkes picked up a telephone that sat on a desk leaning against one of the walls. Dialing a long number, she spoke up, her over-sweet voice unnerving me, and, doubtless, whoever she was talking too.

"Hello, Linda? This is Dr. Wilkes-those new students arrived in, and I need their new dorm mates to escort them to their quarters. Could you arrange that for me? The papers should be on your desk. Oh, thank you!"

She put the receiver down and began to talk to us. "I just know you'll love it here at Aurenton Prep! We have a lot of academic teams- Math Team, Chemistry Club…or if athletics is more your field of expertise, we have track, soccer and other sports!"

Ace piped up bravely. "What about football?"

Wilkes gave a disgusting laugh that matched her smile. "Oh, no! Football is too dangerous a sport to be allowed at such a prestigious academy! You might get hurt!"

I had Wilkes pretty much pegged as a school-worshipper. No surprises there.

At that moment, a teenage boy who looked about my age descended that nearby staircase. He was of moderate height, slim, and had hair the color of burnished gold-for those of you that are colorblind, that means like a rusty blond.

Wilkes looked happy to see him-heck, she always looked happy, as far as I could tell. "Why, Mister Danielson, it's so nice to see you again! How is track going?"

The boy gave a nod in her direction-it was clear he didn't like her any more than we did. "It's fine. Meg Ingot is on her way."

"Oh, excellent! Now…" Wilkes inspected her files. "Patrick Farrell and Jonathan McCully?"

"That's us." I said, speaking for the first time in about ten minutes. Locke and I stepped forward.

"Well, Misters Farrell and McCully, this is Ryan Danielson. The three of you will share a dormitory. If you need anything, any help, he is always there. And…oh hello Miss Ingot!"

Wilkes waved to the tall African-American girl who had joined us.

"Miss Murphy, Meg Ingot will be one of _your_dorm partners. I'm sure you'll have lots of fun-every night will be like a slumber party!"

Eve nodded, joining Meg.

Wilkes rubbed her hands together in a brisk, 'let's get it done' manner. "I suppose that takes care of that. Please follow your dorm mates up to the eighth grade wing, in Lore hall. I'll wait here with Todd and Gregory until their dorm partners arrive."

I couldn't help myself, I blurted it out. "No! We can't."

Wilkes slowly turned to face me, her smile wavering for the first time. "Why ever not?" she asked, narrowing her eyes ever so slightly.

I had to think quickly, and I cobbled together a brilliant lie. "Uh, Mr. Turner told us to watch out for the youngest one here and make sure he got around fine the first couple of days. Gregory's only twelve, and he's never been to a middle school before." I indicated Jovi, who did his best to assume the role of a frightened kid. You'll note that I lied about his age-otherwise he couldn't attend school with us.

"Plus," I continued. "My parents made me promise to stick with my brother and not leave him out." Genius, if I do say so myself.

Wilkes giggled. "My dear boy, the three of us will be fine. In fact, we'll have a great time! After all, I am an educator. You can trust me!"

Are you kidding, lady? I wouldn't trust her with a guinea pig, much less my flock. But of course, I said nothing to the effect.

Despite Wilkes's crazy smile, I felt iciness emanate from her. She opened her mouth once more, and I was ready to protest. We were ready to face off…coldness built in the room as I slowly stepped in front of Jovi, trusting Ace to protect himself if something got ugly, which was more than remotely possible if Jeb was right about this town.

Luckily, we never had to find out what would've happened. At that moment, a preteen boy about Jovi's age arrived, with a guy that had to be Ace's dorm mate.

Wilkes regained what little composure she had lost, and became the perfect assistant principal once more. "Well, I see I no longer needed. Please, feel free to visit me any time. Oh, and I'm sure Dr. Lyman will be very impressed by your grades-all of you. Keep up the good work!" She was gone.

Ryan shook his head. "You might have made yourself an enemy there. Wilkes isn't quite as nice as she appears to be…"

I snorted. "Are you kidding me? She doesn't appear nice at all. Just…happy."

"Yeah." Ryan agreed. "Well, you guys can come with me upstairs. Our dorm's in the western section on the fifth floor."

"Cool. Just a second." I said, and stood closer to Ace, talking softly. "That was a close one-I felt it. Be careful-all of you." I added this once I realized the others had grouped around me.

Ryan said nothing; although I'm sure he was curious about how we could know each other so well.

Ryan, Locke and I started up the polished steps. "So," I said, "How long have you lived here?"

"In Aurenton, eleven years. At this school in particular, since this year began…about four months."

We rounded another corner. "So, what do you think of this school?" I asked, trying to a jump-start on my mission. A first-hand account couldn't hurt.

He shrugged as we climbed another flight of stairs. "It's not bad, I guess. It's a little strange-I mean, you saw Dr. Wilkes down there. Aurenton Prep's kind of a weird school, but it has its upsides for sure. Like our room. You'll see."

It wasn't the information I was looking for in particular, but I didn't press the subject. I didn't want him to get suspicious or something.

We had reached a landing and crossed the hall to a room labeled 1501. Ryan rummaged in his pockets, came up with a key ring and unlocked the door.

Our dorm was like nothing else I'd ever seen. It was plush and invitingly warm in comparison to the cold outdoors that lay beyond Lore hall. Several cozy armchairs and a couch sat in the middle of the room, which was maybe twenty feet by twenty feet. A small Sub-Zero fridge was tucked against a wall, accompanied by a few desks and bureaus. A bunk bed rested in one of the corners and a queen-size single bed sat near the window. A Panasonic wide-screen television dominated the room.

Needless to say, I was in heaven. I'd never experienced anything like this-the first-class plane accommodations were cool, but they had absolutely nothing on this room.

Ryan was unimpressed-either he'd seen so many times it didn't have an effect on him, or his family was just so wealthy that it didn't matter to him.

"You guys are welcome to the bunks-I'm already using the cot, sorry." Ryan pulled a few sodas from the fridge and passed them to me and Locke.

I thanked him and started unpacking the luggage that had been sent up beforehand. "So, this school's all right except for Wilkes. What about that Lyman dude that she mentioned?" I asked, dumping a few books and other odds and ends on to the ground near my bed. I pulled my laptop out and set it up on a desk.

Ryan sipped his own soda. "Are you kidding? Kaspar Lyman is the head principal, but I've only seen him about twice this entire year. When I do actually see him, he's really smart and kind. Otherwise, he just stays up in his office, I guess."

He turned to Locke. "You don't talk too much, do you?"

Locke shook his head. "Not really. Actions speak louder than words."

Ryan raised arched eyebrow amusedly. "You guys are a strange pair, but I like your style. Besides…" He began to imitate Wilkes's nasal, disturbingly happy voice, "I am quite certain you will do splendidly here at Aurenton Prep! Why, we are perfect! We'll have so much fun!"

We all laughed. In my own opinion, his imitation was eerily similar to Wilkes's. Kind of creepy.

The rest of the day went smoothly-we hung out with Ryan all day and explored the campus a little. For the first time in my fourteen years of age, I'd spent a day with a friend…or at least one without wings, that is. I felt normal- Ryan, Locke and I talked about everything you could imagine in your everyday, topsy-turvy day of an adolescent.

I'll never forget that happy day.

At the end of the blissful day, at maybe eleven PM, I felt so joyful. This life was mine. I was loving it. I didn't care what lay ahead. Let it be known that Patrick "Duke" Farrell had a day of true normality and fun for the first time.

"Hey, Ryan? You awake?" I called from the top bunk.

"Yeah, but just barely. What's up, Duke?" He replied.

"There's only one question-one incredibly important, intelligent, monumental question-I need to ask you about this school." I said.

"Shoot."

"How's the food?"

I could swear, I heard Locke snickering for ten minutes straight.

Closing notes: Okay, this chapter is not perfect, for sure. I wanted to include their first day too, but that makes it a little too long. So the next chapter might take a while, but it'll be worth it. R&R

-AAW-


	5. The First Day

**Wow…I haven't updated in ****months. Crap. I think that may be a record. I'll bet you all my characters have run off. Eh well, here's the long-awaited chapter number five. bows to less than exuberant clapping- **AAW

Ah, my first day of school at Aurenton Prep. Some people may describe this event as an enlightening experience full of worthwhile education and overwhelming joy.

Don't listen to them. They're freaking insane.

Max told me some people were like that at her last school. Snobby little overachievers.

Perhaps some detail would be useful at this point. It was about seven-thirty in the morning. I was sitting on my bunk, lacing my Chuck Taylors and idly finger-combing my hair. A rather boring image, if I do say so myself. The shoes were the highlight, however; they were fairly exciting in face of my stupid uniform.

Speaking of which.

Locke was sprawled out on the couch, overwhelmed with dismay over the aforementioned stupid uniforms. He pinched the starched fabric of his blue cotton dress shirt in obvious disgust. "It's not black." He mumbled in protest.

Oh, have I forgotten to mention that he has a liking for black clothing? I have? I guess you now know why he gets along so well with Fang.

Let me give you the gist of the uniforms dilemma, so you can share our suffering. It consisted of the dress shirt, which was embossed with a coat of arms and the words AURENTON PREP and a pair of long, fancy khaki pants. According to Ryan, the girls had the same, although they wore khaki skirts, in contrast.

I slid off the bed with a yawn, rubbing some sand from my eyes. Dang, these idiotic teachers certainly knew how to irritate a teenager. It was too early! Getting up late had been a benefit of living without adults: None of that 'early to bed, early to rise' junk.

I strode across the room and sat down next to Locke, groaning slightly. "Yeah, I get it, dude. The uniforms suck. This school wants us to bug the living crap out of us. What else is new?"

Ryan emerged from the bathroom, brushing his teeth. "Don't worry about it," He said in between brushstrokes, "It's so cold outside that the teachers let you wear jackets and coats to cover up the fact that we all look alike. When we get inside, where it's heated…no such luck."

Not exactly an uplifting comment, but it was the closest thing to a silver lining we had.

'_I believe the world is burning to the ground. Oh well, I gues__s__ we're going to find out. Let's see how far we've come.__Let's see how far we've come…'_

A ringtone from the song "How Far We've Come" by Matchbox Twenty sounded from my pants pocket. The cell phone Jeb had bought me, a Blue Mint Chocolate, was ringing. Fumbling for the phone, I pulled it out and glanced at the Caller ID. Speak of the devil: it was everyone's favorite redeemed mad scientist, Jeb himself. What did he want? It had been one day, we couldn't have learned anything.

I answered. "Duke here."

A slight chuckle resounded within the earpiece. "Hi, Duke. Are you guys okay?"

Like he cared. I'd bet you five bucks he was worried about his precious mission. "Yeah, we're fine, Mr. Turner." I used his alias for safety.

I glanced at Locke, who was listening intently, as far as I could tell. Ryan was immersed in the sounds of his iPod, and probably couldn't hear my conversation. I couldn't take chances, though.

"Okay, Duke, Dr. Martinez and I will meet you tomorrow after school at Worthington Park. Can you get there on your own or do you need directions?"

"I'll figure it out. Later." I said, intending to hang up. Thirty seconds on the phone with Batchelder and I was already sick of his 'let me help you, I'm the good guy' attitude. I didn't trust him half as far as I could throw him. And if he was lying to me, I could throw him _really_ far, in to something hard.

"Wait, wait! I checked out your flock's dorm mates on the Web-their records come up clean. As far as I can tell, you're in no immediate danger from them. Use caution, though. No one is to know why you're there, understand?" Jeb's voice was dead serious.

Mine was nonchalant. "Whatever. I've gotta go. And you should get back to being an idiot. See you." I ended the call.

No, I really don't know why I added that last comment. It's just in my nature. I can't be all that nice to him- after all, for all I know he could responsible for a load of the crappy things that have happened to my flock. He was a high-level executive for the Schools before he betrayed them. He could be just as evil as the rest.

I dialed another number on the handset. After three rings, a bleary, unintelligible greeting came through the line.

I laughed. "Ace? Are you even awake?"

What sounded like a very loud yawn sounded through the phone, followed by:

"Are you kidding me? I was up all night talking and listening to my roommate play the guitar. I only got like, two hours of sleep. Maybe I can catch a few hours in Math or something."

I snorted into the phone. "You may run in to trouble there. Look, can you do me a favor? Call Eve and Jovi; we should all meet in the courtyard at the free period before lunch. That's about 2:25. Cool?"

"Uh, sure…see you then, I guess." He hung up on a slightly disappointed note.

Ryan finished his song and turned off his iPod. "Okay, homeroom is about a five-minute walk from here, so we should get going."

I nodded and shouldered my backpack. "Lead the way, man."

Locke didn't move. "Just a second guys. I've got to find a can of black spray paint."

I rolled my eyes. I'm not entirely sure if he was serious or joking, and I dreaded finding out.

* * *

Ryan spread his arms in a grand sweeping motion as we stepped into the classroom. "Welcome to the lair of the devil!" He said in a mock-evil voice.

A smattering of laughter resounded through the room and Ryan gave a slight bow.

A dry, crisp voice rang out from the teacher's desk. "I thank you for the melodrama, Mister Danielson, but I must tell you-it is unnecessary and rude. A demerit shall be given for those reasons, as well as another for your infallible tardiness. Take your seat, before I give you a third."

Ryan nodded "Yes, Mr. Ledge," and he headed for a seat in the front of the spacious, tile-floored room as he passed me he muttered, "Congrats, you've met the devil himself…"

I gave a quietly bemused chuckle and approached the teacher's desk. He probably was a jerk-I mean, heck, we were only half a minute or so late-but I'd met worse. Scientists at our flock's School in Delaware, overlarge Erasers…the list goes on and on. A ninth grade history teacher would be a walk in the park.

The teacher resembled a hostile, boring IRS agent: he had thick glasses and graying brown hair, and a look of pompous self-importance written across his face. Ledge's philosophy was easily told by his permanently irritated features. It was "I don't know who you are. I don't care who you are. I am right and you are wrong." In his eyes, students were untamed, raucous and unintelligent animals until taught and trained. It was sort of a reverse of America's policy- instead of the innocent until proven guilty theory; his was the guilty until proven innocent theory.

"Hi," I said in what I hoped was an affable, normal-kid tone, "I'm new in your class and I-"

Ledge did not look up from his roll call. "Yes, yes, I know who you are." He continued to jot notes on the sheet.

I waited patiently for a few moments and then tried again. "Sir, I-"

His head snapped up from the sheet and he fixed me with an indignant glare. "What is it, boy? I'm a very busy man."

I bit back the sarcastic comment I was longing to throw at him and said politely. "My name is Patrick Farrell. I'd like to know where to sit." It was perfectly kind, proper request.

Ledge sighed as if he had much better things to do than to direct me to my seat, or, for the matter, teach teenagers.

"Very well. You and the other one," He indicated the silent giant, Locke, "may take the two unoccupied seats near the middle of the room. You may consider yourselves lucky I do not give you demerits for impertinence and tardiness; with new students it requires a certain amount of paperwork. Remove yourselves from my presence." He returned to his gaze to the papers on his desk.

I nodded and "removed myself from his presence", glancing at the seats we had been assigned.

At that exact moment of time, I fell so deeply in love that if someone had chosen to beat me into a pulp at that moment, I would barely register their attack. All I could think about was my sudden and unexpected love.

To clear things up, I was not in love with my desk, although it had a nice wood trim. No, my love was the girl in the seat to my right.

She was beautiful-oh, so beautiful. Like a radiant light valiantly standing out among gray. I was sucked in by her attractive, long reddish brown hair that seemed to just shine. Her sparkling eyes were a lovely shade of hazel and her figure was very feminine. I could continue for hours on end, but you, dear readers, couldn't understand just how gorgeous she was. Especially to me.

I slipped into my seat. The girl gifted me with a pretty smile as she introduced herself, whispering so Ledge couldn't hear us. "Hey. You're new, right? I'm Lexie Rogers."

Her voice was like a moderate, even melody that resounded through my ears and indeed, my heart, making me feel so…different. How's that for a bit of inner teenage poetry?

All of the sudden, I snapped myself back to reality. Focus, Duke, focus.

"Yeah. I'm Patrick Farrell, but my friends call me Duke." The words glided into the air with confidence; already, I'd met a friend. A very _hot_ friend.

She smiled at me. "Cool name." she said, and I nearly melted.

I didn't have much trouble talking to Lexie, but was I nervous? Hell yes.

Ledge's class let out about an hour later, but I'd barely even noticed a thing in that boring class. Nothing but her...

I forced thoughts of Lexie out of my immediate mind and forced it back on track. I had a purpose here at Aurenton Prep, and it wasn't to find myself a date.

Still, I stowed a mental picture of Lexie in the back of my head for future reference. Should there ever be a dull moment…well, I hope no one notices me staring off into space while salivating.

Next class, here we go.

Three classes later, I hadn't noticed anything suspicious, other than the school's employment of Ledge. The dude was a jerk, hands down, but he seemed to have taken an extreme dislike to Ryan in particular. And as far as I could tell, the feeling was definitely mutual; because he was respectful to the rest of the staff. He and Ledge just glared daggers at each other all through the class. Who knows what triggered it? Was it Ledge's the evil education techniques? His stuck-up attitude? One could only wonder.

I swear, give me a weird hat, a pipe and a dozen more quotes like the ones above, and I'd be the spitting image of Sherlock Holmes.

Before I knew it, lunch had arrived, and I was relieved to escape the boredom of private-school education. Four hours of dreary, unexciting information about everything from trigonometry to The Industrial Revolution can really take a toll on you.

Seeing as Ryan had refused to tell me how the food tasted, I was pretty nervous when I walked into the vast cafeteria and smelled an unidentifiable disgusting substance.

Even when I sat down and took a good look at the food, I still couldn't figure out what the heck it was. It was faintly greenish so it could be…no, the purple patch eliminated that. I was stumped.

I was at a table of five; Ryan, Locke and I were sitting with a couple of kids in my math class. Ed Donovan, tall and lanky, was Ryan's track team buddy and seemed to pal around with him a lot. His claims to fame were his parents' stock exchanges. Kirk Walker, whose father was a VP at Paramount Pictures, was some sort of combination class clown and popular kid. He had longish brown hair and had so many girlfriends that I'd lost count after the fifteenth.

Kirk noticed me staring at the nauseating mystery food and laughed. "You won't figure out what it is. Trust me, I've been here two years, and I still have no clue."

I shook my head in wonder. "Do you think the cooks even know what it is when they throw it into a pot?"

Ryan shrugged. "Maybe. Eat it before it cools, though-that makes it even worse."

Wincing, I took his advice and bit into the food. I will not describe how it tastes. Such a description may cause vomiting,

Ed looked at me sympathetically. "You alive? 'Cause if you're not, we can finally sue the school for willful poisoning."

So much for sympathy.

I grimaced and finished the muck in a matter of unpleasant seconds. Then, I dropped my fork and declared, "That is the only food I've ever eaten that has caused me both physical and psychological pain." And you had to really have a twisted version of cooking to gross me out; I'd eaten rat, mouse, and one harrowing occasion, skunk. I will once again refuse to elaborate.

"By the second week, you can't even taste it. The kitchen serves actual _food_ on Fridays, so you might actually stay alive for the next week." Ryan said, taking an absentminded taste of his own lunch.

I shuddered. "Comforting."

"So," Kirk said, fixing me with an interrogative glare, "What's your story?"

My guard went up, all senses hyper alert. Had they figured me out already? "What do you mean?" I said cautiously.

"Oh, you know," Kirk continued. "The average tuition per term at his school is twelve grand. Someone has to be rich, famous, or lucky to get in. Which are you?"

I relaxed. I'd already come up with a simple cover story. "My mom's pretty high on the totem pole at MCA Records. A wannabe pop singer got personally rejected by her, and it came back to bite us. He became the dean at Midwestern Magnet School, where my parents wanted me to go, and wouldn't let me in. He got fired, of course, but for some reason the government relocated me here because of 'personal prejudices' that apparently still prevented me from going to the magnet school."

Ed nodded. "Simple enough. What about you?" He asked Locke.

"My parents obtained ownership of Hot Topic in a hostile takeover. Some idiotic board member at the same academy-Midwestern Magnet School- disliked my parents' taste in black. She said it was depressing. They took high offense and pulled some strings to get me here." Locke said simply.

I groaned inwardly. Why was I not the least bit surprised that he chose to own a store full of black clothes?

I decided to switch tacks. This conversation was becoming oh so perfect for snooping.

"Actually, my parents almost didn't let me go here." I said casually, waited for one of my new friends to fall into the trap.

Ryan snapped up the bait. "Why?"

"Well…" I kept them waiting for a few seconds before dropping the bomb. "My parents heard about those two kids who disappeared recently, and since they went to this school…" I let the comment hang in the air.

A solemn silence enveloped the group. It was as if a simple comment caused an eruption of sorrow, stopping all pleasance at our sole table.

I sighed, wholeheartedly wishing I was somewhere different…somewhere joyous, where none of this awful spying and sadness was existent.

"I take it you guys knew them?" I said flatly.

Ryan shook his head, his generally happy-go-lucky features molded into a mask of gloom. "Knew them? Nobody really knew them. Haley Patterson and Noel Lawler were two outsiders that stuck together and didn't talk to anyone. It wasn't their fault; a lot of popular kids shunned them, and that made them on the blacklist."

Kirk nodded. "By the time people like us tried to warm up to them, they'd shut the rest of the school out, figuring we were all jerks. And then one morning they were gone. That was it."

Not much to go on, admittedly. But if there was one motive fueling my drive to find the secret of Aurenton, Massachusetts, it was those two teens.

Now I had a reason to stay.

We got off the topic, but the fun conversations had faded after such a sad subject. So when free period rolled around, I was happy to leave the lunchroom.

Ryan had explained to me that here at Aurenton Prep, free period was defined as the fifty minutes after lunch that could be used for study, remediation or socializing. Absolutely no one chose the first two options.

The school courtyard was quite possibly the biggest stretch of land on campus, and despite the obvious layer of frost, still looked natural and aesthetically pleasing.

I was eagerly looking forward to seeing the others. Hanging out with the guys in my grade was pretty fun and enjoyable, but I missed my flock. We'd always been together, and I won't deny that I was apprehensive about being away from most of them, especially after hearing about the disappearances. My flock was my family-without them I'd be lost.

Locke and I wandered through the crowded throng of jabbering students, searching for the others. After a few minutes of looking, we discovered them in the southwest corner.

"Guys!" I shouted, trying to make myself heard over the sounds of five hundred students chatting like the wind.

Their superhuman hearing picked it up, and they ran to meet us. I was so glad to have a shred of my true life work its way through the deception of this mission. This was something real among a collection of lies.

But my joy was short-lived; it only took me a few seconds to notice that someone was missing.

"Where's Ace?" I asked, glancing around at the crowd. All I saw was a sea of unfamiliar faces.

Eve's momentary smile disappeared as she came to the same conclusion. "I don't know." She admitted. "I though you'd met up with him or something."

I shook my head, pretending to not be duly concerned. After all, anyone could be late. It's not like I tried hard to convince Ace that this meeting was so important. But it was-I just hadn't known at the time how much I would miss my flock.

But twenty minutes later, I was still scanning the crowd for my brother and I'll now wholeheartedly admit that I was worried. For all we knew Ace could have become the third person who disappeared in this mysterious city of secrets.

"If he's doing this just to bug me, we'll all find out how fast he can run when in danger." I seethed, taking a final glance at the courtyard.

"Here's our chance. I found him!" Eve called.

Ace was very gradually making his way towards our area, poring over some guitar tabs and marking out notes with a pen. Walking beside him was one of his roommates, Chet, and to my surprise, an admiring girl with blond hair. I hid a smile of brotherly pride as he neared our group and bade farewell to his own.

"Look, Chet, I'll catch up with you later. I've got to talk to my brother. See you guys in like an hour!"

He waved jovially and sauntered up to us. "Hey guys. What'd I miss?"

I narrowed my eyes. "Well, let's see here, shall we? You're late, you had us stressed out to the max, and you nearly blew our entire operation…that just about covers it. What the heck were you thinking?" My voice shook with anger.

Ace stepped back for a moment, ill at ease and uncertain "I was only a little late." He said tentatively. His eyes flicked towards Eve and Locke for support, but they didn't back him up.

"A little late? Ten minutes more and I would've called Batchelder and pulled the plug on this mission, ruining all chances of our normal life. I'd have blown our cover and everything we stand for! We thought you were either captured or toast." It felt good to let my anger out, but I wish that Ace didn't have to take the heat.

Ace took a stunned step back, seeming to assess the situation. His brow furrowed with thought and he apparently came to a conclusion. He opened his mouth, the first syllables of a sincere apology ready to slip into the air, but stopped. He seemed to make a spilt-second decision, the ones our flock is famous for.

He crossed his arms and glared back at me. "You guys are just being paranoid. What, did you think I'd get kidnapped out of the blue? How ridiculous is that?" Ace's stance was aggressive, his eyes flashing with resilient defiance and anger. I looked at him sadly; I looked at him and saw myself, one year earlier.

I was ready with a shouting retort, but Eve beat me to it. She hadn't said word all through this exchange and yet for some reason she decided to speak at this particular moment. She does that a lot; she says it's called a woman's sixth sense. Bogus if you ask me.

"Look, neither of you are really right." She said, holding her arms up in a placating gesture. "Just…just let it go, okay?"

She did her best to break the silence that ensued as a result of her comments. "Uh, how's your first day of sixth grade going, Jovi?" She asked.

Jovi shrugged. "Not bad. People like my nickname they say it reminds them a lot of-"

"-The band!" The entire flock chorused. On the occasions that we met new people, which admittedly were rare, they all knew of Bon Jovi.

I switched tacks before the conversation veered completely off-task. "Look, I got some details on the disappearances, and…the way they happened so quickly; I guess I'm just kind of nervous. I'm sorry I yelled at you." I admitted.

Ace rolled his eyes. "Whatever." Something told me he was still fuming inside.

Ten minutes later our entire group was wandering through the yard, talking. Friendship truly had no bounds-I mean, we'd been apart for four hours or so and we still missed each other terribly. Practically since birth we'd been together; we were more than friends, more than family. We were a flock.

I was caught up in that heartwarming moment of togetherness and managed to walk directly into the side of a gazebo. Yeah, I know, smart move.

Okay, just to eliminate your doubts of my intelligence, I did not slam into said gazebo because I felt like it. No, for the second time in the past few hours or so, I was blown away by the beauty of one amazing girl.

You guessed correctly, all you romance-novel losers. I'd met up with Lexie Rogers once more. Only she didn't look too happy. She was glaring over at an overweight redheaded kid, who in turn was looking menacingly at a threesome of sixth-graders. Amidst, the flock's chuckles at my expense, I overheard what was going on.

"No, no, no, no, NO! Listen to me, you little pathetic wimps! I said an A-minus on that paper, and you got me a freaking C. What have you got to say?" the bully demanded of the sixth graders.

One of them started to speak but the bully was faster. "That's right, you have nothing to say. 'Cause you're trash. Say it!"

I felt a powerful urge, to step in, to do something. I looked over at the rest of my flock, and I could tell they felt the same way. But we couldn't, of course. It was an unspoken law while undercover; that the last thing you needed was to draw attention to yourselves. I bit back my anger and watched, hating myself.

Apparently, Lexie had taken as much as she could without bursting. She strode over to the scene, hands on her hips and eyes blazing. Trust me, I was practically mesmerized.

"Leave them alone, you creep! What did they do to you, Lawrence, you little brat? Huh?" she snapped.

The bully-Lawrence-sneered. "Shut up, Rogers. I'm as smart as I'll ever need to be. My daddy says so."

Oh, he dared. He had crossed an invisible boundary within my tolerance. He had messed with Lexie. Anger filled my being and I confronted Lawrence before my common sense would let me do otherwise.

I approached him, my arms crossed with a sarcastic expression painted on my face. "Ah, let's see here. Bully demanding homework from frightened kids. Can we say cliché? I mean, all you have to do is put on a letter jacket, take my lunch money, and congratulations; you fit the stereotype."

"You be quiet too, new kid." He pointed a fat finger at me. "Daddy told me about fools like you; you'll never make it in this world."

"Oh, yeah?" I taunted him. "Does Daddy ever tell you that he and Mommy wish your intelligence matched your appetite?"

Lawrence blinked in obvious confusion. I waited patiently for him to realize he'd been insulted.

At last, his slow-witted mind came to the right conclusion.

"Think you're real funny and smart, eh, wise guy? But you're not-you're just a whiner, upset 'cause I'm tougher than you."

I laughed bitterly at his closed-off worldview. He had no idea what existed outside his perfect, spoiled rich-kid world. "Let me guess," I ventured, "Your daddy told you that, too."

Before he could protest, my fury had risen with the fiery word in my throat, forcing their way into the air. "And you know-let me tell you something! You think that because your dad's loaded, or because you can pick on kids, or even because you have the nerve to yell at a girl who's doing the right thing, that you're tough? That is the furthest thing from the truth I've heard in my entire fourteen years. Trying to rise above everyone, and control everything because you can't handle your own self-esteem…that stuff doesn't make you tough. Trust me, I know! All these things don't make you tough or cool or whatever the hell you're trying to pull here. They just make you weak!"

I breathed deeply, not believing I'd just released such a rant. It's just that the anger and dislike, the hate, that I felt as I threw word after word at Lawrence, wasn't directed at him. Not exactly. He just seemed like a figurehead, a symbol of practically everything that made my life unfair-that made the world unfair, for that matter. The hypocrisy, the injustices thrust at my flock and I mirrored how this brat bullied a bunch of sixth graders. The whitecoats used us, just as Lawrence used the sixth graders; we were nothing in the scientists' eyes, but experiments. We were more. So much more. And when they call us failures they've never been more wrong in their insufferably evil lives; we were more whole, more human then they would ever be. The feelings of inequality had struck me pretty hard for as long as I could remember. And now, finally, I was lashing out. But possibly at the wrong person. Or not.

I came out of my reverie when my extrasense screamed warnings at me, just in time. I felt violence ahead, and as usual, I was right. In a split second, Lawrence had raised his giant fist and slammed it towards me.

I ducked just in time, slipping under and around his attack effortlessly. I'd faced his kind before. He was sick of my talk of morality, and had it down in his narrow mind that he was going to teach me a lesson.

Boy, was he in for a surprise.

I evaded another attack, and saw my chance to fight back. I unleashed a powerful uppercut to Lawrence's chin. It should have shattered, given my superhuman strength.

But he shook it off like a dog, and came at me. My hand throbbing, I wasn't ready for the attack and got knocked to the ground, the wind flying from my diaphragm. Lawrence stood over me, a leering behemoth, and raised it foot, preparing to kick my teeth in.

He hadn't counted on the power of teamwork. Or for that matter, my black-obsessed best friend.

Locke threw himself at the bully, jabbing his gut with an elbow and attempting to pin him down. It did nothing. Lawrence just shook my friend off and continued towards me. Luckily, I had managed to get to my feet during the previous struggle, and avoided his next onslaught. I now had a strategy in mind.

I tripped him stealthily as he came at me again, I leaped at him while he was vulnerable, but with agility I hadn't expected from someone of his girth, Lawrence was up in a trice.

He moved back maybe ten feet, steadying himself. I took this opportunity to analyze his fatigue, and found more than I bargained for.

Lawrence wasn't even breaking a sweat, but a vein throbbed in his forehead, and a look of uncontrollable rage was pasted on his features. He glared at me through glazed eyes, and I knew that there was something inhuman about him. He snorted, preparing for another, attack, and I saw the ever-so-slight madness he hid.

That dude was either crazy or going crazy. Take your pick.

I tried a new tactic as he rushed at me. I leaped swiftly into the air, not showing my wings but easily rising above him with my jumping ability. While in the air, I vaulted over his arm and landed several yards away, unhurt.

And, by the way, I'd stuck the landing at an Olympic level. I'll probably have coaches calling soon.

Behind Lawrence, Ace and Eve stood motionless. They knew as well as I did that no human force seemed to hurt him. Locke, at the other end, seemed to have come to the same conclusion. This would take some plotting. Which, naturally, my flock is very good at.

I signaled Eve, who rushed forward to distract Lawrence with quick, useless but pestilent blows. Jovi decided to help, and it worked. Lawrence briefly turned to go after them, leaving us temporarily free.

Meanwhile, Locke, Ace and I were scheming, one my favorite activities; I wished I'd had time to do it properly, but while fending off a maniac the process becomes hasty.

That didn't make it any less genius, though. I explained my idea to the other two. And soon, we put it into action.

Eve and Jovi warded off Lawrence's mad assault and escaped to the sidelines, where I vaguely notice that a crowd had formed. I was too intent on the plan to give it much thought.

Our threesome ran for the bully and then split up into different directions. Strong as he was, Lawrence could not be in three places at once. He singled me out once more as the object of his aggression, just as I knew he would, and fell cleverly into our custom-made trap.

I led him, twisting and turning, to the gazebo that had so irked and injured me. Lawrence backed me up till I was almost against it, pinned. He grinned in a disgusting way and pulled his fist back.

Ace crept up behind him and, his mouth close to the bully's ear, shouted as loud as he could, "Hey, loser!"

Lawrence the Incredible Hulk was at last broken of focus for just a moment. A moment was all we needed. Together with Locke, who'd practically materialized next to me, I seized the bully's frame. Moving as one, we slammed him against the gazebo. The boy who had held strong against so many punches dropped like a stone, out cold.

I wiped sweat from my brow, almost ready to collapse from the physical exertion. My flock gathered around me.

"Good job, everyone. Thanks…so much. I was so stupid, challenging him like that." The words dripped from my mouth, sounding as dumb as I felt.

Eve squeezed my shoulder. "You did the right thing, Duke."

Locke laughed quietly. "Thank you, Voice of Reason."

Merriment briefly spread through our tight-knit flock, and I hated to interrupt it. I knew I had to, though.

"Listen," I said. I heard the click of heels and knew a teacher was arriving; I had to hurry. This statement was not for a staff member's ears.

"Listen," I said again, "Jeb was right." A tone of dread seeped into my voice. "There's something horribly wrong in this city. I don't know what it is-but I guarantee we'll find out…and soon."

**-Kind of a mini-cliffhanger. I liked it. R&R, the next chapter will take a while. I hope you like the story as it unfolds.**

-AAW-


	6. Complications Ensue

-**Well, I know you all want to cause me severe physical atrocities because I haven't updated in SO long, but in my defense, I have a life outside FFN. However, I'm out of school and I took a nice vacation, long enough to figure out this chapter. Please read and review, as always. Peace.**

-AAW-

The principal's office was quite cozy, much to my surprise.

Oh yeah, that's right. My first day and I'm already in trouble. Guess that's what you get for having backbone. There are always repercussions for courage, believe it or not. Those repercussions are, in truth, some of the things that slant the world in favor of those who don't deserve it.

I was sitting in a plush chair outside the spacious office, accompanied by the supervising teacher who'd escorted me there. She was a middle-aged type, with a waist that spoke of many failed fad diets, and she was chewing a disgustingly smelly wad of gum. The scent, which oozed a kind of oily, burnt plastic aroma, caused me to recoil slightly.

The teacher was accompanied by a security guard, of course. It had taken me a mere few class periods to notice that the school was full of them: blue-vested athletic men and women that either abused steroids or had _some_ kind of exercise program. They weren't the run-of-the-mill rent-a-cops, that was for sure.

I ventured an educated guess that the guards were supposedly here for the students' protection, since we were so fragile. Bull. I wondered why they were really here.

Something just wasn't right here. And my suspicions started with that Lawrence kid.

After that tussle with Lawrence, my entire view of Aurenton Prep had been violently jerked into paranoia. The kid wasn't normal. It scared even me to think of that cold, thoughtless fighting machinery and vicious attacks that I associated with the bully.

I wondered if he had anything to do with those disappearances. The thought shook me, hard, waking me up to reality. All my life I'd spent travelling…aw, who am I kidding? I've been running all along. And now, I've stopped. I now had a reason, a purpose in my life.

A motivation besides self-preservation or protecting the flock. Intriguing.

Oh, by the way, Lawrence had been carted off to the school med center for treatment, considering he probably had a concussion. I hoped they were out of painkillers.

"Farrell? Dr. Lyman will see you now." An emotionless, practically robotic receptionist beckoned me into the office. I steeled myself for practically anything. For all I knew, this man 

could be the kidnapper we'd set out to find-that scenario seemed likely considering his position of power in the school.

Plus, years of using sarcasm as a defense mechanism has left me with a rather large amount of disdain for authority figures. This guy was in for an ego deflation if he tried to pin stuff on me.

The office was quite possibly the most boring place I have discovered in my short life. Metal desk, metal lamp, metal bookshelf…this guy had a thing for stainless steel. The only object that stood out was the principal's chair, which was made of a garish purple fabric that struck me as unmanly. But I'm beating around the bush here. Let me describe the mysterious Doctor Kaspar Lyman.

Now, I was expecting a huge, sadistic villain with a cackling laugh and a freaky accent. Maybe I've watched one too many James Bond flicks. Maybe not.

But unfortunately for those of you who were expecting some revival of Dr. No, you'll just have to wait for the remake to come out in theaters. Kaspar Lyman was without a doubt the most boring individual I had ever laid eyes on. Bald and clean-shaven, he had plain, instantly forgettable features. He wore a fancy silk suit that was clearly tailor-made and expensive, but it did nothing to improve his uninteresting image.

"Ah, Mister Farrell. Sit down, will you?" Lyman glanced away from some official-looking forms and focused his beady eyes on yours truly.

I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze, but his smile was not an unkind one. He looked no more threatening than a rabbit, and I began to feel a bit foolish for being nervous.

"Now, Farrell, there is no need to fret over any punishment for your actions. Miss Tomas, the lady who brought you up here, has already explained what went on in the courtyard."

I wondered exactly how she described it, considering she came at the last moment. But I didn't interrupt.

"I know very well that, judging from her description, you meant no harm to Lawrence Clayton and his attack on you was utterly unprovoked. Does this statement ring true?" He questioned, looking at me expectantly.

Well, I wouldn't have called it totally unprovoked, but either way he shouldn't have tried to beat me into a pulp. So I nodded.

"Good. Well, I suppose there's not much else to be said. Mister Clayton will, without a doubt, be suspended. Dr. Wilkes will notify his parents and I expect some sort of investigation regarding his actions at this academy will be performed. Have a nice day, Mister Farrell!"

I couldn't quite believe my luck. I was off the hook and all it took was about half a minute in the office. "You too, sir." I managed to say before striding out of the room. I didn't want to give him the chance to reconsider.

Ryan, Locke and the others had formed a throng outside the lobby, waiting for me to emerge. It took me a moment to remember that Ryan had been among those in the crowd around my fight with Lawrence.

Ryan looked at me anxiously. "It all happened so fast-I was the one who ran to get help…otherwise I would've slugged Lawrence into the next century with you guys."

I grinned. "Thanks."

"Did you get in trouble, Duke?" Ace asked. "The way Lawrence looked after we took him down…well, let's just say that I doubt any of us will be bothered by him again."

I shook my head. "No, Lyman let me off without a single warning. Strange, isn't it? I mean, whether it was my fault or not, you'd think he'd be kind of ticked that we knocked a student out cold."

Ryan shrugged. "I guess. But Lyman's a fair man, or about as fair as an administrator can get. He's nothing like Wilkes, thank God."

"I know." Eve agreed. "Wilkes gives me the creeps. She's like…poisoned sugar." She shuddered.

Locke nodded. "Yeah. Anyway, last period is about to-"

A shrill bell rang and students began to file out of countless classrooms. Some headed across the campus to the dormitories, while others escaped to the freedom of the city streets.

"End." Locke finished amusedly.

At that precise moment my phone vibrated. I knew who it was.

"This is Duke."

"Duke, this is Jeb Batchelder. Eve called me-she said you were in some sort of fight. Is everybody all right over there?" He sounded worried. How touching! I was so sick of him.

"Yeah, we're fine. What's going on?" I asked, hoping to quickly end this already-awkward conversation.

"Nothing…I just wanted to make sure you guys were okay. No strings attached. Your safety means a lot to me and Valencia."

He was trying to play the sensitive card, hoping to make me feel guilty for doubting him. It wasn't working, quite obviously.

I preferred the blunt approach, myself. "Right. See you soon."

I closed the phone and looked up at the others. "That was Mr. Turner. You know we've got to meet with him for a little while, discuss how everything is going. But after that we can hang around the town for a while. Cool?"

A collective "Cool" came back at me.

Ryan nodded. "Sure thing. I was thinking of showing everybody the city anyway. I know a really cool gym, in case Duke hasn't got all of that unhandled aggression out."

The flock laughed. I held my hands in defeat, not even denying it.

Ryan continued, gaiety creeping into his voice.

"Yeah, and there's a few malls downtown, a couple of diners and stores here and there. We could look around before being assailed by our crap load of homework. Where are you guys headed?"

I hesitated for a moment, years of circumspection cautioning me. But I decided there was no harm in telling him. "Worthington Park. Turner's a nature freak." And we're his band of freaks of nature, I added in my disgruntled thoughts.

"I know where that is." Ryan affirmed. "Just take the bus there; it's on the western outskirts of Aurenton. I'll meet you in the food court of the West Hills Mall-it isn't far from the park."

"Sounds like fun to me. Later." I said, and turned on my heel to leave. Characteristically, my flock followed in a motley crowd.

My raptor vision watched Ryan as I confidently headed for the exit. As he disappeared from sight out of another door, I led the flock up a flight of stairs to the roof.

"This place is off-limits to students." Eve remarked knowingly.

I gave her a weird look. "I never pegged you as a too much of a rule-follower."

She shook her head. "Nah, I'm just saying if we were caught…" She let it hang.

Jovi snorted. "Are you kidding? Duke left the principal's office scot-free after knocking a kid out. I think we'll be okay."

Ace's voice rang out from a few paces behind me. "I still think its weird you got off so easy. Self-defense or no self-defense, any sensible man might've at least looked into to the matter more, you think?"

I shrugged as we reached a heavy door marked ROOFTOP. Shoving it open, I glanced back at the others. "Who knows why he went so easy on me? Call it a rare stroke of luck. Now come on, Worthington Park is maybe a fifteen minute flight from here, if I had to guess."

We stepped onto the roof and I sighed with relief as I unfurled my wings. It felt so much freer to stretch: I'd been tightly clenching my wings against my back, even more than usual, hoping no one would notice them. No one really does, but I was being extra careful at this school.

I leaped into the air-if I soared high enough no one would notice the silhouette of my wings across the bright sky.

I've never had a real home, you know that? The closest thing I had was the air, the clouded cyan backdrop that was so open, so liberated…there I was home. My tan wings felt the wind shroud the skies and I dipped lower, lying flat in the air. I closed my eyes and trusted my wings to keep me going as the cool rush of air welcomed me back to where I belonged. The only place where no one could hurt me or my flock: Mother Nature's gentle firmament.

I allowed my eyes to flicker and then open, and gazed around at my tight-knit group. They shared my mindset, for the tension and pressure of the real world had simply been brushed away by the air. Locke tilted his head and stared around at the never-ending blueness around him, as if it was the beckoning safe haven we'd always counted on. All he needed was serenity; something I'm sad to say is in short supply these days.

I looked at Eve. She looked gentler in the breeze, as if she hadn't the time to build the image of perfection she strived to achieve. It had to be hard on her, being the only girl-I now knew why she tried to appear smarter and worldlier than the rest of us. It was all she had to define herself with. I made a mental note to help her branch out a little bit.

Jovi had balanced himself against the wind, kicking and gliding through the atmosphere as if swimming. I watched as he banked left and then somersaulted twice. It probably felt like a game to him-a worthy alternative to reality. The poor kid was eleven; he deserved to believe the world was at ease. He'd had to grow up so fast, forced to mature before he should and probably missed out on being the carefree child he pretended to be. Maybe it was his way of dealing with the bitter hand the world had dealt him.

My brother had his headphones on, loud enough to faintly hear-if you had avian audible range, that is. I smiled as I recognized the tune. It was, of all things, Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd. I can't say I didn't see that one coming.

Ace let the music guide his flight, swooping and spinning to the beat of such a classic song. He had created a strange mix of the real world, combining music with the perfection of aerodynamics. He struggled so hard to be a regular youth, but knew he was too unique to do everything such a kid does. He had missed out on so much in life that I knew his teenage years was a period he wanted to enjoy, but it was slipping through his fingers as he traveled with us. Until we came to this school, he had no place to feel popular, to have countless friends, to live some of the best years of his life. I would know because I feel the same way-we all need socialization, and the same five kids together for all their life gets a little repetitive. I wish I could make Ace see that I understood his need to kind of…venture away from the flock as he experienced real life, now that he had the opportunities. But how?

We landed some time later, and I felt refreshed from the journey. It gave me a chance to clear my head.

Jeb, Max, Fang and Dr. Martinez were all waiting for us in the park's car lot. To my surprise, Dr. Martinez embraced me warmly. "Good to see you well, Duke." She said before briskly moving on to hug Eve.

Fang nodded in my direction. I exchanged a brief "hey" with Max, before inevitably turning to Jeb.

"Hello, Duke. I hope you're not in any trouble…you know, because of the fight." His smile was unfathomable.

"I'm not in any trouble. I met with the principal, he understood the situation." was my taciturn reply.

"That's good to hear. It is also good that you met Kaspar Lyman. I assume you learned just how harmless he seems. I'll frankly admit that I don't consider him a suspect in this investigation."

"I know. The man is so…boring. I can't imagine him kidnapping teenagers, its too exciting a scenario for his type." I answered, glad to talk about the mission and not listen to more 'trust me' pleas from Batchelder.

"I concur. Anyway, we've got some stuff that might further aid this operation." He gestured towards his vehicle, a golden Lexus RX400 SUV.

Jovi was the first to blurt out the thoughts we all shared. "You're giving us a car?" He said incredulously.

Jeb's smile widened. "Yes, consider it emergency transport. Hot off the presses, I bought this baby from Aurenton Lexus, and it is registered to Robert Turner. If for some reason your cover is blown, your enemies will doubtlessly be watching the skies. Take the car if you must-

it'll be parked in the staff lot, space number thirty-four. I had to pull some strings and bribe one insane civics teacher to get that spot, but consider it done." He handed each of us a key.

I nodded what little thanks I had. "Anything else?"

Jeb blinked at my forwardness, but continued along quickly. "Yes, we've got a few more tools to help you along, just as hi-tech as they are expensive. Try to keep them in one piece if you can." He paused for a moment to let out a short laugh. "I'll admit, I feel kind of like Q from the James Bond series."

Not a bad joke, much better than his earlier ones- I would know. After all, fifty percent of my life is humor, while the other consists of beating the crap out of those who wish me harm. Well, considering my feelings for Lexie…I guess I should refigure those numbers to allot about two percent for romance.

I shook my head. "Get to the point." I commented brusquely.

This time he seemed ready for my curtness and moved on swiftly. "Very well. Eve, my dear, if you'd be so kind as to press the 'power trunk' button on your key, we can move on."

"It's Eve. Just Eve." She said flatly. She seemed uncomfortable, and I realized she was no happier about this entire situation, perks or no perks, than I was. She pushed the button.

The trunk's hatch slowly rose as if by its own accord, revealing five sleek Macintosh PowerBooks sitting in the storage space. Jovi, our tech buff, was naturally in awe and seemed to be in some sort of trance. I decided it was best not to interrupt what might have been the most joyous moment of his young life.

Fang smirked. "Still not as cool as my laptop." He muttered.

Max shrugged, a smile slipping into her features as she leaned against the SUV. "Oh, I don't know. Wait till they hear what's on those notebooks."

Dr. Martinez strode over at this point, and gestured toward the computers. "These Macbooks are crammed full of every Itex file Jeb and I could get our hands on. They also have a high-range satellite receiver built in, which means you can get an Internet connection practically anywhere."

Jeb picked up where she'd left off within a second. "These devices will be delivered to your dorms. In addition, you'll find Trek 4300 mountain bikes, tagged with your names, in the school bicycle shed. If possible, I'd like you to avoid flying in excess: if you are seen, the mission will be aborted immediately for your safety."

"In fact, while we're on the subject of emergencies and safety…" Jeb unclipped his Blackberry from his belt and held it up. "You all have my personal phone number, and I urge 

you to call me if you get into trouble, as Eve did today. If you are under duress and being watched, send me a text message with the following code: 7#. I'll know you're in danger, and we'll get you guys to safety. Follow me so far?"

I glanced at the flock questioningly, and when signaled with a collective nod, I turned back to Jeb. "Are you done?"

"Not quite, there's one more thing. I think you'll like this last part." He opened a rear door of the Lexus and began rummaging around in the backseat.

Looking about "my" new car, I found a small plastic box full of all sorts of stones. "What's this?" I queried.

"Oh, that," Dr. Martinez said. "I collect rocks as a hobby-my, um, boyfriend is a geologist. Aurenton has a nice selection of such stones; I'm bringing some back to show him."

I noticed a look of pride spread across Max's face when her mother said the word 'boyfriend'.

"Here they are!" Jeb called triumphantly and pulled another plastic box, this one full of Fossil wallets, from the back.

Passing one to each of us, he said, "Enclosed in each billfold is a few twenties, photo ID, a copy of your fake birth certificates, some miscellaneous items and finally a debit card. If you think a certain purchase would support your mission, by all means, spend away. The account is worth twenty grand, set aside for your use. The PIN number is 5684: on a phone, those are the digits that spell out 'Jovi'."

Jovi grinned proudly, of course. I suppressed a smile.

I took the wallet offered me, and turned to leave. "We're done here." I said to my flock.

"Now, wait…wait!" Jeb called after me. "Duke!"

I halted and turned to face him. "What is it?" I asked coldly.

"Why don't you-any of you-believe that I want to help you? You may not trust me, but you should know what you all mean to me. You're part of a revolution!" His eyes begged us to take his word.

I snapped. Enough was enough and even I had my limit. "Your revolution, you mean? If you may remember, not long ago we were mere pawns in your games of sciences and questions! What's to say we aren't still?" I spat the words at him, forcing him to see who he really was.

He crossed his arms and looked imploringly at all of us. "I can't undo or erase the mistakes of my past. But why can't you see that I've repented, and how I'm trying to right what is wrong in this pathetic world? Forget the past-the future is now!" He claimed.

With a single, lithe and graceful snap, I flicked my wings out, spreading them wide for him to see. I then whispered softly, cold steel defining my voice. "Your past is with us every day. It's difficult to forget."

* * *

I kicked off the ground and into the air, leaving him and his damn revolution behind.

After a quick flight back to our dormitories to change out of those accursed uniforms, we were headed for West Hills Mall. I was eager to evade anything even remotely related to our mission. The meeting with Jeb and the others had ticked me off beyond imagination; all I wanted was to get back to the new, wondrous feeling of normality my new life offered. And that included a simple, easy trip to the mall.

Now decked out in jeans, a red polo shirt, and a black leather jacket, all I sought was some fun.

Ryan was waiting for us near a miniature Sbarro's pizzeria in the center of the food court. And then…we walked. It felt just as free as flying, being able experience being normal and safe as we wandered a mall like your everyday kids.

Jovi's eyes grew wide and big as we neared a gigantic GameStop store. Eve sighed resignedly and said, "I'll take him…"

Truth be told, I was glad they left the fold for a little while. I had some stuff to take care of that Eve would've thoroughly pestered me about. I get enough of that anyway.

"Uh, Ryan? What do you know about that girl…Lexie Rogers?" I tried my best to sound casual, nonchalant. Me, in love with Lexie? No, what would give you that idea?

Ryan didn't buy it. "What, you mean 'Sexy Lexie'? You don't have a chance, my friend. Move on." He said as we wandered into a toy store for the heck of it.

Amidst the laughter at my expense, I retaliated to Ryan's advice in a mature and apt manner. I picked up a Beanie Baby and chucked it at him.

But in a flash he whirled on the spot and plucked it out thin air as if he knew it was coming. The flowing movement was point-blank and stunning. It was almost… gracefully inhuman.

I shook my head in amazement. "Unbelievable."

"How'd you do that?" Ace asked, rapt.

Ryan shrugged modestly. "I have decent reflexes. And," He went on as we made our way through the games aisle, "Since I feel bad that you didn't hit me, I'll tell you why you don't have a chance. It's not just you."

He took a yo-yo off a shelf and began toying with it. I waited patiently, fiddling with a Rubik's cube.

My tolerance was wearing thin as I managed to get one side completely red. Apparently, he felt like he'd paused long enough for dramatic effect and spoke at last. "Lexie's a good friend of mine. The simple truth is, Duke, that Lexie hasn't dated a guy in quite some time."

My jaw dropped. "Why? I mean, she's so…nice." I finished lamely, not wanting to say the particular adjective on my mind. Possibly because she's pretty much indescribable.

Ryan laughed. "Nice isn't the word most guys would've used. And as for why, well…everybody's got a sob story to tell, and Lexie is no excuse. Maybe six months ago, she started dating a soccer jock, Roy Fredericks. They met the year before and when they came back for ninth grade, they were instantly the entire's school's power couple. You know, they did everything together. They even got every single vote for the yearbook's cutest couple survey. But, of course, the school had to redo that study."

"Because they broke up?" I asked curiously.

Ryan shook his head. "It wasn't really a break-up. It was more of a tragedy-easily the saddest thing that's happened since the year started. The soccer team won a nail biting championship, 5-6. Lexie ran back into the locker rooms to congratulate her boyfriend, only to find him all over a cheerleader. They haven't spoken since, and I doubt they plan to."

"Wow. Harsh." Was all I could think of to say.

Ryan nodded. "Tell me about it. I'd tried to warn her. I knew the dude, knew he was a jerk. But she didn't listen to me. She had all these plans for them: they were going to take a trip to Europe, Japan…she even wanted to do some charity work with him. It all fell through, of course."

"So there you have it." He said as we stepped from the store. "Inevitable proof of why Lexie Rogers wouldn't go out with you if you were Brad Pitt himself."

I found my voice. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe she'll find something different in me."

Ace shook his head, smirking. "It's the first day of school and Romeo here has already picked out his very own Juliet."



I felt my face get hot as the others laughed. "Look who's talking." I retorted. "I saw that blond girl you were with this afternoon, in the courtyard. You could've opened a snack bar with all of that eye candy she was giving you."

Ace said nothing.

"You know, I think I've found a familial trait you to share." Ryan remarked. "You both blush the exact same shade."

He and Locke cracked up.

Soon enough, our little group began to break apart as we each went our separate ways. Geez, I sound like a roadie from the Beatles, don't I?

But that's irrelevant. Locke was the first to depart, eyeing a Hot Topic to our left. I'll bet you all saw that one coming, right? If you haven't, I'm seriously falling behind as a storyteller.

Ace was next to leave. He spotted some guitar shop with a window display of classics. "That red one up there was a style played by Hendrix." He exclaimed in wonder. We left him to his heaven. By the time Ryan headed for Finish Line to get some new running shoes, I was on my lonesome.

That's when I spotted it. My own, practically personalized sanctuary. Barnes and Noble bookstore.

When you take a moment to consider who you are in our confusing, complex world, I think you'll discover that there are always several places which define you. Locations where you feel tranquil, balanced and at peace with everything around you.

Libraries and bookstores are among the unusually small number of places which mean that much to me. Its always quiet, the air conditioner turned down a smidge too low, with an aura of discovery lingering within every modest bookshelf. Relying on toughness and street wisdom get you far in life, but true knowledge fuels aspects of your journey, opens windows of thought and philosophy.

So call it the little-seen nerdy side of me, but the first thing on my everyday to-do-list, food, sleep and hygiene aside, is to read a good book. And every town has books, tons of books, somewhere.

Luckily enough, I'd found Aurenton was no exception to that rule.

I stepped into the Barnes and Noble, immediately greeted by the rare feeling of complete serenity I found in so few places. I breathed in the sweet, bookish scent and found it mixed with coffee. There was a Starbucks in the middle of the establishment.



I strode between the giant wooden shelves, my eyes sweeping over the titles, looking for one that jumped out at me. Today, all I wanted was something truthful, some meaningful novel that sat on the shelves awaiting me.

I stopped and picked up a couple James Patterson novels, hoping the adventure would be worthwhile, even if it was nothing like what I went through in my own escapades. I went on from there and by the time I made my way to the checkout counter I'd added a book about thievery, one about the life of FDR, another about the world's mysteries, a few more fiction novels and a book on avian anatomy. Oh, and I threw in a collection of Shakespeare's best on spur of the moment.

Now, most of the time I didn't have the money for extra stuff like these books. It hadn't been a huge problem-no one really noticed or cared if you found a table and read to your heart's content without payment.

But why not splurge? I took some sort of satisfaction by spending Jeb's cash.

I found a table near the café and set my books down to grab a cup of coffee.

Incidentally, I wouldn't get a chance to read a single word on those pages all day. But that's all right, as you'll soon see why.

"I'd like a honey latte, triple espresso, with whipped cream. Oh and a couple slices of that cake. Please." The barista nodded.

And who should show up at this very moment? Oh, take a guess.

"If you put any more sugar into that coffee, you'll probably have a heart attack." Lexie observed from behind me.

I hadn't seen her coming. My extrasense hadn't warned me.

I had to think on my feet, as usual. "Well, I guess I'd rather be a terminally ill, awake person than an exhausted healthy one." I responded smoothly, turning to face her. God, she looked even more amazing when out of that uniform. A paper cup of Earl Grey sat in one hand and a stack of books under one arm.

She laughed a little and then looked at me seriously. "Can we talk for a moment?"

"Sure." I accepted my latte with thanks and led her to my table. I'll honestly say my heart was racing like a Formula One racer, and I hadn't even sipped my coffee. Lexie Rogers had an even better effect-a fluttering heartache that was different than I'd ever felt before.

And you know what else? A quick glance at the books she was carrying proved that over half the titles she held were the same as the ones I'd expertly plucked from the shelves. Without 

the most fleeting doubt, I could tell you immediately that she was the most…incredible match for me, the best girl I'd ever met. The fact that I'd met so few girls had nothing to do with it, by the way.

She noticed our similar literary selections as well. "You have good taste."

I shrugged. "Great minds think alike. What's up?" I hoped I wasn't sounding too snobby. Was my breath okay? Was my hair stick up in the back? Questions flooded my mind, but it wasn't hard to focus on her.

She took a deep breath. "I can't _believe_ you did that today."

"What?" I said, startled. Then I remembered my fight with Lawrence Clayton. "Oh, that. Well, he shouldn't have dared yell at you like that."

She raised her eyebrows.

I hurried on. "Or bullied those kids, of course. He was completely out of line and fully over the top. Anyone with a heart would've protested."

"Yeah, but you fought him off like it was nothing. I didn't have the guts to do something like that. " She cast me an admiring glance as she stated this.

I felt myself blush ever so slightly. "Well, it was mostly self-defense." I said modestly. "Besides, I'm a guy."

Instantly, I knew I'd said the wrong thing. Lexie gave me a look of hard anger and said, "Great. Another chauvinist." She started to rise.

I wasn't going to let it happen. I couldn't let the love of my life just walk out.

I stood up quickly and looked straight at her, deeply in her eyes of inquisitive hazel that had turned to ice. "Wait."

She waited. I had a chance.

"I promise you." I said with firm feeling, "That's not what I meant. I would never say something like that." I looked for a glimmer of hope within her eyes and found it.

Lexie stared right back at me, her face softening as she seemed to explore mine, finding honesty there. "You have amazing eyes." She murmured, her earlier emotion forgotten.

"You stole my line." I said softly.

The contact we shared in one brief gaze told her what she needed to know, because she sat down again. "What did you mean, then?"



What _did_ I mean? I'd lost my train of thought, my memory as I'd had my moment of connectivity with Lexie. I racked my mind for an answer to her simple question.

"It's like a…a virus all guys are preprogrammed with." I struggled for the right words. "We can't help ourselves-when something goes wrong, our first instinct is to fight. Aggression replaces our passion before we can help it, and all that seems to matter is the battle-the win. That's what we're trying to prove when we do stupid things." I finished.

She looked at me for a moment. "You know, you're refreshingly different from every other guy who's hit on me in the past year."

It was my turn to cock an eyebrow, an action that is immensely hard to perfect. "Oh? How am I different? Is it because I might be the first man to admit a flaw in the male gender?"

She shook her head. "No, there's something about you. Something open, something complex. You want people to realize that there some things about you that can be defined, or shouldn't be. All you want to be is you."

"Thanks." I said, stunned. But I was on a roll and couldn't be stopped by surprise. "My turn. You…you want to be more than a pretty face in the crowd, or somebody's prize. The idea of making yourself look dumb is repulsive, taboo, and…" I hesitated before adding my last detail. "You've been hurt before. This I know."

Lexie was silent for a moment before she continued in awed tones. "Either we're both psychic, or we're on the same wavelength, the same part of life."

I shrugged and grinned roguishly. "That could be it, or maybe we're the same zodiac sign."

She shook her head. "Don't tell me you're one of those horoscope maniacs, or you'll ruin all of your potential." She was joking, of course. And she was rather good at it, I might add.

"Just how much potential do I have?" I asked innocently, anticipating the answer as my heart jumped up to another gear.

She blushed and gifted me with a small smile. "A lot." She admitted.

'_I believe the world is burning to the ground. Oh well, I guess we're going to find out. Let's see how far we've come. Let's see how far we've come…'_

I swear, I will beat the heck out of whoever was calling me and interrupting such an amazing moment.

I reached for my cell phone, only to find that it wasn't ringing. Lexie's was, though.

Holy crap…just how many things did we have in common?

"Hello? Uh, no, I forgot. I'll be there soon, all right? Look, I just got distracted…" I saw her eyes linger on me as she said this.

Love was great.

She hung up and reached for her books. "You have no idea how much I want to keep talking to you, Duke, but I've got to run." She paused, thinking some things over, and pulled a pen out of her purse. She wrote a number on my hand. "Call me sometime. Soon."

She turned to leave, but I had to act quickly. "I'd love to call you, but since I'm being so forward today, why don't I press my luck a little and just ask you the following question: What are you doing Friday night?"

Lexie broke out into a heartwarming smile. "There's a diner downtown called Sam's. You want to meet me there on Friday, at six?"

"I'll be there." I said simply.

She walked toward the exit and I called after her. "And what exactly would we call this meeting?"

Lexie didn't turn around, but I could imagine the exact look on her face as she called back. "It's a date, Duke. We'd call it a date."

I beamed as a thought struck me, long after the doors had swung shut.

Remember that two percent I allotted to the romance in my life? Imagine a much, much bigger number.

**I switched the rating to Teen just because of safety, by the way. I just…didn't feel right with the earlier K, I had to use some restraint with certain words. R&R.**

-AAW-


End file.
